TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Departmental Recruitment

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will publish summary information on DTI recruitment for the 15 months from 1 January 2000 to 31 March 2001 and the use of permitted exceptions to the principles of fair competition and selection on merit.

Patricia Hewitt: It is DTI policy that recruitment is carried out on the basis of fair and open competition and selection on merit, subject to the exceptions permitted by the Civil Service Commissioners. My Department has systems in place, which ensure that the principles of fair and open competition are understood and followed in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Commissioners' recruitment code. These systems are subject to internal check and to external check by the Commissioners' approved auditors.
	The following table and narratives describe DTI recruitment other than to the senior civil service, the DTI's executive agencies and the Government office network for which there are separate arrangements for publishing recruitment data.
	
		
			  Gender Ethnic background  
			 Range Permanent FTA Stand by Other Male Female White Ethnic minority Not stated Disability 
		
		
			 11 11 9 — — 16 4 7 2 11 — 
			 10 18 17 1 — 24 12 10 3 22 1 
			 9 12 2 — 1 11 4 2 0 13 — 
			 8 21 1 — — 11 11 7 1 14 1 
			 7 14 2 — — 15 1 6 1 9 — 
			 6 8 2 — — 6 4 7 1 2 — 
			 5 47 2 — 5 29 25 16 7 31 2 
			 4 15 6 — 11 13 19 11 5 16 — 
			 3 9 10 — 23 24 18 8 1 33 — 
			 2 13 8 — 11 17 15 8 2 21 1 
			 1 30 — — 1 17 14 5 7 19 3 
			 Faststream 23 — — — 9 14 13 1 9 — 
			  
			 Total 221 59 1 52 192 141 100 31 200 8 
		
	
	The number of occasions on which the permitted exceptions to fair and open competition and selection on merit have been used at each level (except for appointments of up to 12 months) are categorised as follows. Details of the exceptions are underneath the relevant category.
	(a) Extensions of appointments of up to 12 months up to a maximum of 24 months: None
	(b) Recurrent short-term appointments: None
	(c) Re-appointment of former civil servants:
	5 Range 11s
	1 Range 8s
	1 Range 4s
	2 Range 3s
	3 Range 2s
	(d) Extensions of short-term appointments beyond the initial publicised period, including conversion to permanency: 1 Range 10
	(e) Appointments under government programmes to assist the long term unemployed: 18 candidates under the New Deal Scheme
	(f) Secondments:
	1 Range 11
	5 Range 10s
	4 Range 9s
	2 Range 8s
	(g) Transfer of staff with their work (not under TUPE):
	1 Range 11
	3 Range 10s
	1 Range 10 fixed term appointment
	4 Range 5s
	4 Range 7s
	4 Range 9s
	2 Range 9s fixed term appointment
	7 Range 1s
	(h) Transfer of staff from other public services without work (unless from a public body staffed exclusively by civil servants): None
	(i) Appointments of surplus acceptable candidates to shortage posts: None
	(j) Disabled candidates appointed under modified selection arrangements: None
	(k) Any use of the exceptions reserved for the Commissioners (i.e. appointments on the basis of the proven distinction of the individual and appointments not in order of merit): None.

Energy and Industry Council

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the outcome of the Energy and Industry Council of 4 and 5 December 2001.

Brian Wilson: The Council considered several matters of interest to the United Kingdom.
	An exchange of views on the internal market in electricity and gas and on the Commission's Green Paper "Towards a European Strategy for the Security of Energy Supply" formed the centrepiece of this Energy Council.
	The key point to emerge from the discussion on the internal market in electricity and gas was that several member states are resisting a fully liberalised regime for gas, arguing that integrated companies should not be split and that prices for accessing pipelines should be negotiated rather than published. The UK maintained that legal unbundling of transmission system operators from the supply side was essential and that third party access to the system should be governed by "ex-ante" rules approved by the regulator and based on published prices. There was a large measure of agreement to this from other member states so far as electricity was concerned. In discussion of the draft directive's handling of public service obligations (PSOs), most member states, including the UK, were in favour of the definition of PSOs being left to subsidiarity though some argued for a more prescriptive approach.
	Member states generally endorsed the proposal by ETSO (European Transmission System Operators Association) for a temporary solution to the problem of cross-border trade in electricity, but most warned that this should be seen only as an interim solution for one year. The UK expressed concern at the lack of a clear road map to reach a definitive solution, arguing that there should be a clear definition of responsibilities between ETSO, member states and the Commission.
	In a brief presentation on its benchmarking study, the Commission noted that it showed a wide difference in market opening, prices and customer choice among the markets in different member states and that the study's main conclusion—that markets which had opened the most had the lowest prices and the best protection for PSOs—showed the need to move towards full market opening as soon as possible.
	The views expressed on these issues will be fed into a report with the hope that the Spanish presidency will be in a position to announce significant progress at the next European Summit in Barcelona.
	The Commission hoped that a final position on its Green Paper on Security of Energy Supply would be reached at the next Energy Council (6 June 2002), noting also that while there had been agreement on many points, some, such as nuclear energy and harmonising tax measures, were controversial.
	The UK and other member states praised the overall analysis in the Green Paper, supporting the focus on improving demand side management. At the same time, they expressed themselves satisfied with existing arrangements for the management of emergency oil stocks, with the focus firmly on the International Energy Agency as the appropriate forum. Member states agreed on the importance of consumer/producer country dialogue; several emphasised that such dialogue should not be confined to any individual or group of supplier countries.
	The UK emphasised the major contribution to security of supply that a liberalised and integrated energy market in the EU would play.
	All reserves were lifted on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and the Council on the Energy Performance of Buildings, although the Commission asked for a declaration registering its dissatisfaction with the length of the implementation timetable. A presidency compromise text has therefore been agreed as a general approach. This was a good outcome for the UK as we secured flexibility that allows for other measures to be used, such as the provision of advice, to reduce the energy consumption and limit the carbon dioxide emissions of boilers.
	In their account of COP7 (7th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), the presidency and Commission noted that the EU had been a major player in ensuring that agreement was reached. The presidency concluded that the EU should now work towards a multilateral process for achieving the convention objectives, including targets beyond 2012 and looking at greater involvement of developing countries. The Commission noted that the overall aim of its draft emissions trading directive was to have an EU system in place in 2005 ahead of an international system scheduled to be in place by 2008. The proposed approach would take account of the overall costs of reducing emissions, with the aim of ensuring that an emission trading system should not disrupt energy markets and that market distortions be kept to a minimum. While welcoming these developments, the UK argued for a more voluntary, flexible EU approach, to allow for national circumstances, than that currently proposed, and in favour of doing more to encourage business to gain experience in emissions trading. The Commission also provided information on the European climate change programme.
	On state aid to the coal industry after expiry of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) treaty, only two member states supported the security of supply justification for continued aid. The UK and others opposed this justification but were nevertheless prepared to accept some further aid to the coal industry for social, regional or economic reasons, given appropriate limiting conditions. In particular, aid should be digressive and time limited. The Spanish presidency will take the dossier forward in the new year.
	Finally, there was a brief progress report on the Energy Charter treaty and a short Commission presentation on the proposed directive on Biofuels.
	Industry Council
	The Industry Council held a debate and adopted conclusions on competitiveness and enterprise policy in the EU. The key themes were better regulation, the economic impact of September 11, research and development, and quantitative targets. The UK asked for the Commission to produce a better regulation action plan for Barcelona.
	The Council adopted conclusions on the financing of SMEs. These recognise progress made in addressing problems for SMEs in obtaining finance, but also that more can be done. A number of initiatives have been identified, such as actions promoting entrepreneurship, and to encourage contacts between SMEs, bankers and other finance providers in order to improve their mutual understanding.
	The presidency introduced their progress report on modernising competition policy. A debate followed. All member states agreed the council should work towards adoption of the proposed regulation by end 2002. Most of the discussion focused on the issue of the relationship between national competition rules and EU law (Article 3). The Commission believes Article 3 is vital to ensure equal treatment across the Community and it would also simplify the Community legal structure. All member states supported the objectives of Article 3. The UK pointed to the need for consistency and sensible case allocation in the network, but noted some concerns on the regulated sectors, actions to address market failures, mergers, and criminal penalties, on which further discussion would be necessary. All member states agreed on the broad principles for co-operation between national competition authorities in a decentralised regime. The presidency concluded that work would continue.
	Council conclusions were adopted on state aid which look forward to further work by the Commission and member states to reform the state aids regime. The Commission presented the Ninth Survey of State Aid in the EU, drawing Ministers' attention to the state aid scoreboard and register that had been set up during the year to increase transparency.
	The presidency noted continuing discussions on the transfer of ECSC assets. Further technical legal work was necessary. The Commission briefly presented its latest report on the Monitoring of Aid to the Steel Industry. The Commission was still considering the state aid rules to apply following expiry of the ECSC treaty. Strict rules would continue as member states and the Industry wanted.
	The Council again discussed the Commission's proposals for a temporary defensive aid mechanism for shipbuilding, to be introduced in parallel with WTO action against Korea. The UK argued that the way to tackle the problem was through WTO action. The Commission's approach linking WTO action to aid had led to deadlock, from which only Korea benefited. Subsidies had not worked in the past and were further likely to weaken the WTO case. The Council was divided about the proposal, and the presidency concluded that no qualified majority existed for the subsidy proposal. The Spanish presidency would need to pick up the dossier.
	The Commission made a short statement on sustainable development, encouraging the Council to work on its environmental integration strategy and ideally complete it in time for Barcelona.

Sunday Working

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many shop workers have taken a case to an employment tribunal because of discrimination against them for refusing to work on a Sunday; and how many were successful.

Alan Johnson: Since 1994 when shop workers were given new rights involving Sunday working a total of 157 applications have been made to an employment tribunal of which 14 were successful.

Employment Agencies

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to issue revised conduct regulations for employment agencies.

Alan Johnson: I expect to issue revised Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations in the near future, following a further short consultation on certain aspects.

Regional Assistance (North-west)

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total amount of regional assistance grant to industry for each parliamentary constituency in the north-west of England was for each year since 1992; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: The total amount of regional assistance grant to industry is set out in the following tables. The figures are based on the 1981 ward boundaries and represent offers of Regional Selective Assistance made by the Department of Trade and Industry.
	
		
			 Constituency 1992 1993 1994 1995 
		
		
			 Ashton Under Lyne 306,000 145,500 25,000 0 
			 Barrow and Furness — 77,800 1,770,500 814,800 
			 Birkenhead 205,000 164,500 217,000 920,000 
			 Blackburn 322,500 755,500 461,500 2,046,000 
			 Bolton, North-east 840,000 179,000 261,000 226,500 
			 Bolton, South-east 0 0 894,600 945,800 
			 Bolton, South-west 162,000 450,000 0 0 
			 Bolton, West 444,000 231,000 1,077,500 380,000 
			 Bootle 252,300 1,023,000 593,000 685,000 
			 Bury, North 194,000 199,500 838,000 382,000 
			 Bury, South 106,000 619,100 245,000 74,000 
			 Carlisle — — — — 
			 Chorley 90,000 23,000 0 99,000 
			 City of Chester 18,000 7,277,000 180,000 170,000 
			 Copeland 0 250,000 983,000 51,500 
			 Crosby 70,000 0 75,000 90,000 
			 Davyhulme 151,000 52,000 285,500 129,000 
			 Denton and Reddish 27,685 97,650 0 0 
			 Eccles 200,000 105,300 0 0 
			 Eddisbury 50,000 855,000 175,000 43,000 
			 Ellesmere Port and Neston 110,000 1,630,000 897,000 1,002,000 
			 Halton 2,872,000 1,754,000 745,000 452,000 
			 Heywood and Middleton 128,000 199,500 109,000 365,000 
			 Hyndburn 487,000 2,191,500 9,500 0 
			 Knowsley, North 4,658,000 1,496,000 1,667,000 880,000 
			 Knowsley, South 1,030,000 1,197,000 761,000 484,000 
			 Lancaster — — — — 
			 Leigh 1,462,000 1,235,500 221,850 2,303,000 
			 Littleborough and Saddleworth 938,000 268,900 470,000 444,000 
			 Liverpool, Broadgreen 892,000 189,000 1,834,000 130,000 
			 Liverpool, Garston 1,035,000 1,932,000 883,000 1,161,000 
			 Liverpool, Mossley Hill 1,826,000 24,000 40,000 50,000 
			 Liverpool, Riverside 1,325,000 571,670 666,000 2,642,500 
			 Liverpool, Walton 80,000 126,890 485,000 410,000 
			 Liverpool, West Derby 0 229,500 90,000 0 
			 Makerfield 106,500 113,000 431,740 592,800 
			 Manchester, Blackley 107,000 50,500 0 0 
			 Manchester, Central 469,500 648,500 49,500 0 
			 Manchester, Gorton 64,500 346,000 0 0 
			 Morecambe and Lunesdale — — — — 
			 Oldham, Central and Royton 73,000 330,000 949,000 363,000 
			 Oldham, West 138,000 775,900 379,000 774,000 
			 Penrith and the Border 1,587,500 160,000 95,000 17,000 
			 Rochdale 517,500 483,500 358,600 621,500 
			 Rossendale and Darwen 336,000 438,000 49,500 596,500 
			 Salford East 624,900 183,000 100,000 0 
			 Southport 70,000 1,132,000 834,000 130,000 
			 St. Helens, North 225,000 550,500 1,578,200 1,960,000 
			 St. Helens, South 90,000 1,770,000 2,667,000 2,675,000 
			 Stalybridge and Hyde 167,500 620,000 101,000 0 
			 Stretford 1,512,000 230,000 220,500 2,673,200 
			 Wallasey 63,000 2,011,000 635,000 965,000 
			 Warrington, South 60,000 225,000 264,000 35,000 
			 West Lancashire 3,190,500 1,809,000 1,387,500 1,948,000 
			 Westmoreland and Lonsdale 0 0 55,000 0 
			 Wigan 1,311,000 2,414,500 638,000 852,000 
			 Wirral, South 560,000 779,300 1,565,000 420,000 
			 Wirral, West 55,000 1,612,000 98,000 197,000 
			 Workington 1,106,500 2,788,500 384,000 275,000 
			 Worsley 2,310,000 109,500 144,000 319,000 
			  
			 Total 35,026,385 45,130,010 29,943,490 32,794,100 
		
	
	
		
			 Constituency  1996 1997 1998 1999 
		
		
			 Ashton Under Lyne 40,000 0 0 0 
			 Barrow and Furness 1,285,000 612,000 306,700 244,000 
			 Birkenhead 611,000 175,000 514,000 414,000 
			 Blackburn 1,971,800 871,600 621,000 726,000 
			 Bolton, North-east 581,800 96,000 350,000 75,000 
			 Bolton, South-east 453,000 195,500 376,000 285,000 
			 Bolton, South-west 0 0 0 0 
			 Bolton, West 165,600 1,248,000 149,000 390,000 
			 Bootle 292,000 497,000 1,751,000 379,000 
			 Bury, North 189,500 153,500 82,500 115,000 
			 Bury, South 156,000 20,000 108,000 457,000 
			 Carlisle — — — — 
			 Chorley 60,000 25,000 20,000 33,000 
			 City of Chester 766,500 590,000 0 1,900,000 
			 Copeland 0 0 84,500 368,000 
			 Crosby 183,000 200,000 62,500 860,000 
			 Davyhulme 650,000 687,000 3,044,000 0 
			 Denton and Reddish 0 0 0 0 
			 Eccles 0 0 0 0 
			 Eddisbury 125,000 0 126,500 155,000 
			 Ellesmere Port and Neston 557,000 13,247,000 348,000 1,040,000 
			 Halton 320,000 688,000 335,000 1,769,000 
			 Heywood and Middleton 465,000 134,000 90,000 99,000 
			 Hyndburn 25,000 60,000 0 0 
			 Knowsley, North 5,011,000 2,906,000 3,950,000 2,603,000 
			 Knowsley, South 99,000 0 40,845,000 1,240,000 
			 Lancaster — — — — 
			 Leigh 212,950 869,000 1,257,000 1,623,000 
			 Littleborough and Saddleworth 899,250 509,000 706,000 309,000 
			 Liverpool, Broadgreen 1,239,000 287,000 7,000 5,000 
			 Liverpool, Garston 780,000 386,000 4,257,000 7,308,000 
			 Liverpool, Mossley Hill 130,000 15,000 0 0 
			 Liverpool, Riverside 1,124,000 945,000 1,170,000 880,000 
			 Liverpool, Walton 10,000 310,000 0 130,000 
			 Liverpool, West Derby 0 62,000 12,000 60,000 
			 Makerfield 172,000 106,000 124,000 5,408,000 
			 Manchester, Blackley 0 0 0 0 
			 Manchester, Central 0 0 0 0 
			 Manchester, Gorton 0 0 0 0 
			 Morecambe and Lunesdale — — — — 
			 Oldham, Central and Royton 259,000 252,000 665,000 1,124,000 
			 Oldham, West 90,000 326,000 601,000 45,000 
			 Penrith and the Border 0 120,000 0 0 
			 Rochdale 588,000 237,000 188,500 794,000 
			 Rossendale and Darwen 195,000 217,000 291,000 567,000 
			 Salford East 0 0 0 0 
			 Southport 55,000 50,000 34,000 208,000 
			 St. Helens, North 459,000 1,965,000 553,000 304,000 
			 St. Helens, South 760,000 1,636,000 1,992,000 1,062,500 
			 Stalybridge and Hyde 0 0 0 0 
			 Stretford 270,000 50,000 8,000 240,000 
			 Wallasey 585,000 333,000 78,000 655,000 
			 Warrington, South 210,000 1,950,000 40,000 1,800,000 
			 West Lancashire 2,043,000 823,000 880,000 1,309,000 
			 Westmoreland and Lonsdale 0 0 0 0 
			 Wigan 2,103,000 576,500 549,000 1,398,000 
			 Wirral, South 90,000 1,853,000 2,048,000 470,000 
			 Wirral, West 25,000 70,000 30,000 95,000 
			 Workington 320,000 787,000 2,034,000 855,000 
			 Worsley 109,000 30,000 10,000 175,000 
			  
			 Total 26,735,400 37,170,100 70,698,200 39,976,500 
		
	
	
		
			 Constituency 2000 2001 Total 
		
		
			 Ashton Under Lyne 85,000 — 601,500 
			 Barrow and Furness 98,000 410,000 5,618,800 
			 Birkenhead 1,000,000 100,000 4,320,500 
			 Blackburn 180,000 107,000 8,062,900 
			 Bolton North-east 0 — 2,609,300 
			 Bolton South-east 0 — 3,149,900 
			 Bolton South-west 0 — 612,000 
			 Bolton West 0 675,000 4,760,100 
			 Bootle 90,000 500,000 6,062,300 
			 Bury North 0 — 2,154,000 
			 Bury South 0 — 1,785,100 
			 Carlisle — 70,000 70,000 
			 Chorley 0 — 350,000 
			 City of Chester 0 — 10,901,500 
			 Copeland 240,000 — 1,977,000 
			 Crosby 0 110,000 1,650,500 
			 Davyhulme 240,000 — 5,238,500 
			 Denton and Reddish 0 — 125,335 
			 Eccles 0 — 305,300 
			 Eddisbury 0 — 1,529,500 
			 Ellesmere Port and Neston 180,000 — 19,011,000 
			 Halton 604,000 1,215,000 10,754,000 
			 Heywood and Middleton 0 — 1,589,500 
			 Hyndburn 0 80,000 2,853,000 
			 Knowsley North 5,530,000 760,000 29,461,000 
			 Knowsley South 93,000 800,000 46,549,000 
			 Lancaster — 80,000 80,000 
			 Leigh 0 200,000 9,384,300 
			 Littleborough and Saddleworth 460,000 150,000 5,154,150 
			 Liverpool Broadgreen 0 245,000 4,828,000 
			 Liverpool Garston 50,000 1,955,000 19,747,000 
			 Liverpool Mossley Hill 0 — 2,085,000 
			 Liverpool Riverside 3,435,000 — 12,759,170 
			 Liverpool Walton 0 180,000 1,731,890 
			 Liverpool West Derby 0 — 453,500 
			 Makerfield 0 200,000 7,254,040 
			 Manchester Blackley 0 — 157,500 
			 Manchester Central 2,100,000 1,850,000 5,117,500 
			 Manchester Gorton 0 — 410,500 
			 Morecambe and Lunesdale — 145,000 145,000 
			 Oldham Central and Royton 95,000 — 4,110,000 
			 Oldham West 750,000 940,000 4,818,900 
			 Penrith and the Border 0 — 1,979,500 
			 Rochdale 520,000 230,000 4,538,600 
			 Rossendale and Darwen 0 — 2,690,000 
			 Salford East 0 1,340,000 2,247,900 
			 Southport 190,000 200,000 2,903,000 
			 St. Helens North 250,000 345,000 8,189,700 
			 St. Helens South 600,000 — 13,252,500 
			 Stalybridge and Hyde — — 888,500 
			 Stretford — — 5,203,700 
			 Wallasey — 1,950,000 7,275,000 
			 Warrington South 290,000 — 4,874,000 
			 West Lancashire 238,000 690,000 14,318,000 
			 Westmoreland and Lonsdale — — 55,000 
			 Wigan 315,000 450,000 10,607,000 
			 Wirral South 1,996,000 3,485,000 13,266,300 
			 Wirral West 0 — 2,182,000 
			 Workington 95,000 500,000 9,145,000 
			 Worsley 0 — 3,206,500 
			  
			 Total 19,724,000 19,962,000 357,160,185

Temporary Employment

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what studies her Department has conducted into the number of temporary employees who (a) prefer to remain in temporary employment and (b) are unable to find permanent employment.

Alan Johnson: This Department has conducted no recent study on this issue. However, the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is an Office for National Statistics data set covering the UK, examines whether such individuals are temporary employees by choice or because they cannot find a permanent job. The LFS defines temporary employees as including individuals engaged on: employment business assignments, seasonal work, fixed term contracts and casual work. The autumn 2001 survey estimated that:
	(a) 500,000 temporary employees (30.2 per cent. of the total) preferred to remain in temporary employment, and
	(b) 416,000 (25.1 per cent) were unable to find permanent employment.

Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2001, Official Report, column 52W, if she will define the unnecessary restrictions on organisations in the recruitment industry, including the IT sector which are due to be removed by the draft Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations.

Alan Johnson: The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations will remove the following restrictions:
	(i) Preventing employment agencies offering, directly or indirectly, any financial benefit or benefit in kind to induce a work-seeker to use their services;
	(ii) Preventing employment agencies offering their services to a worker in employment, where the agent had previously received a fee for introducing him to that employment;
	(iii) Preventing employment businesses approaching a worker in employment, to induce the worker to agree to be supplied to a hirer;
	(iv) The requirement for employment agencies and employment businesses to inform the Secretary of State in writing of their terms of business;
	(v) The requirement for employment agencies and employment businesses to keep records on their premises.

Small Business Service Offices

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many small business service offices are situated in the coalfield communities.

Nigel Griffiths: The Small Business Service has an office in each of the nine English regions. The SBS contracts via regional teams with 45 Business Link Operators to provide business support services throughout England. All of the coalfield communities are served by this local network irrespective of the specific location of the office.

Redundancies

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many redundancies were notified, broken down by (a) constituency, (b) region and (c) country in each year since 1997.

Alan Johnson: The following table shows the numbers of planned redundancies notified for each year from 1997 to 2001. Companies are required to notify only where they plan to make 20 or more people redundant. I regret there are no similar statistics for individual constituencies.
	
		
			   1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 Redundancy notifications in England  
			 Avon 3,854 4,117 5,182 4,378 4,253 
			 Bedfordshire 2,934 2,227 2,743 7,977 4,385 
			 Berkshire 3,107 5,027 5,814 6,350 11,082 
			 Buckinghamshire 4,506 4,061 4,318 4,823 5,280 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,636 3,362 3,903 3,536 5,123 
			 Cheshire 5,255 7,251 9,003 5,581 9,910 
			 Cleveland 5,025 5,120 3,848 4,259 2,924 
			 Cornwall 1,335 580 923 962 1,731 
			 County Durham 2,660 3,856 2,214 3,065 3,604 
			 Cumbria 2,671 1,967 3,886 5,411 4,561 
			 Derbyshire 5,822 4,332 4,484 6,489 7,291 
			 Devon 2,027 3,979 2,436 3,459 9,008 
			 Dorset 1,201 2,353 1,252 2,495 3,408 
			 East Sussex 363 1,945 1,164 423 1,486 
			 Essex 4,823 8,152 7,550 9,184 9,467 
			 Gloucestershire 2,347 3,987 2,294 2,966 4,756 
			 Greater London 18,776 24,049 27,601 27,323 60,325 
			 Greater Manchester 7,250 9,292 9,657 8,340 11,950 
			 Hampshire 5,659 7,757 8,625 9,379 15,985 
			 Hereford and Worcester 2,676 3,279 2,429 3,007 2,816 
			 Hertfordshire 3,743 4,004 5,205 4,395 14,308 
			 Humberside 3,373 2,558 1,255 3,524 1,434 
			 Isle of Wight 252 386 313 578 1,090 
			 Kent 5,979 6,863 7,107 21,848 7,812 
			 Lancashire 11,008 11,340 15,901 15,244 17,974 
			 Leicestershire 4,951 6,384 5,254 7,634 6,643 
			 Lincolnshire 1,844 5,918 3,623 5,226 5,723 
			 Merseyside 7,274 7,626 7,970 6,998 9,553 
			 Middlesex 4,504 4,920 9,598 7,239 8,887 
			 Norfolk 2,668 2,409 3,326 3,617 3,476 
			 Northamptonshire 3,390 2,511 4,252 4,317 5,453 
			 Northumberland 690 924 2,293 1,446 1,252 
			 Nottinghamshire 4,755 5,812 8,721 9,133 7,681 
			 Oxfordshire 2,120 2,107 4,139 4,761 5,453 
			 Shropshire 1,706 1,634 2,979 3,606 3,028 
			 Somerset 985 2,679 2,849 2,821 5,463 
			 Staffordshire 4,165 6,710 5,916 7,592 9,767 
			 Suffolk 2,868 1,903 2,415 2,469 3,261 
			 Surrey 3,936 5,242 12,292 6,566 8,908 
			 Sussex 2,454 3,508 2,952 4,018 1,242 
			 Tyne and Wear 14,533 10,756 8,002 7,846 9,575 
			 Warwickshire 1,506 4,492 8,155 7,887 5,402 
			 West Midlands 10,019 12,040 19,024 22,399 20,444 
			 West Sussex 902 1,824 3,068 793 6,159 
			 Wiltshire 2,248 5,097 3,012 3,343 6,558 
			 Yorkshire 22,005 23,338 26,764 25,065 47,075 
			  
			 Total 208,805 249,678 285,711 309,772 402,966 
			   
			 Redundancy notifications in Scotland  
			 Borders 2,305 2,060 887 542 899 
			 Central 2,001 837 1,087 353 1,503 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 318 1,786 1,200 2,532 619 
			 Fife 1,464 2,805 4,011 1,709 4,148 
			 Grampian 3,156 4,024 3,759 3,864 1,497 
			 Highland 80 259 2,816 824 708 
			 Highland and Island 433 223 1,937 189 275 
			 Lanark 349 1,021 3,714 2,809 9,052 
			 Lothian 5,322 5,516 6,623 5,800 9,301 
			 Strathclyde 9,261 9,952 7,828 6,034 11,168 
			 Tayside 940 638 788 594 1,516 
			 Western Isles 0 0 0 0 82 
			  
			 Total 25,629 29,121 34,650 25,250 40,768 
			   
			 Redundancy notifications in Wales  
			 Clwyd 763 2,583 946 1,611 790 
			 Dyfed 814 317 199 264 475 
			 Gwent 1,991 2,396 3,663 4,833 4,723 
			 Gwynedd 258 839 352 787 714 
			 Mid Glamorgan 680 2,100 1,119 1,396 1,211 
			 Powys 194 594 1,513 392 1,038 
			 South Glamorgan 3,358 1,996 2,265 3,138 3,797 
			 Wales 413 622 1,610 2,159 5,380 
			 West Glamorgan 809 1,764 1,267 585 185 
			  
			 Total 9,280 13,211 12,934 15,165 18,313

Postal Services

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will place in the Library a copy of the Consignia/UBS Warburg strategic plan for postal services.

Patricia Hewitt: Any Consignia strategic plan would be commercially confidential and therefore under Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information could not be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Construction Industry

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she has taken to replace the construction industry retention system as regards central Government, agency and local authority contracts.

Andrew Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	I am aware of the concerns raised in the industry with regard to retentions, but it would be premature to seek to change the current arrangements.
	The construction industry has yet to achieve 'zero-defects' or 'right first time' culture and continues to have difficulty ensuring quality. Contractors, sub- contractors and specialists in the industry, as well as government, have a role to play in ensuring that quality is a priority issue.
	The Achieving Excellence in Construction initiative, led by the Office of Government Commerce, is placing greater emphasis on team working and value for money procurement strategies and is encouraging central Government construction clients to use partnering and long-term commercial agreements with suppliers to reduce the need for retentions in the future.
	The Local Government Task Force, which was formed to promote Sir John Egan's Construction Task Force report 'Rethinking Construction' in local government, is also encouraging authorities to work with suppliers to reduce the need for retentions.

TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE REGIONS

Home Zones

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement about the role of home zones in creating safer communities.

Sally Keeble: Home zones can help to create safer communities by increasing the neighbourly use of the street, with adults talking and children playing. I am delighted that we were able to announce grants totalling £30 million towards 61 new home zone schemes in England earlier this month.

Home Zones

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the effect on the level of road accidents, broken down by type of (a) accident, (b) injury and (c) victim, of the operation of home zones.

David Jamieson: Home zones are not road safety schemes as such, but if they are carefully designed, they can make a contribution to overall road safety objectives. My Department is currently monitoring nine pilot home zones in England and Wales. A review of accidents is one of the elements included in the study. Data on personal injury accidents are being collected from the local authorities and interview surveys of a sample of residents in each pilot home zone include questions about road accidents. 'After' data will be collected once the schemes are completed. We would expect on-going monitoring of accidents in any home zone to be carried out by the local authority.

Railtrack

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what he estimates to be the costs to date of external consultants advising on the administration of Railtrack and its implications for the railway and Ernst and Young.

John Spellar: Ernst and Young, as Special Railway Administrators, are officers of the High Court and, as such, are not employed as external consultants by my Department. Consequently, fees are a matter for the creditors of Railtrack plc. From 7 October to the end of December 2001, the estimated cost of external consultants working for my Department on the administration of Railtrack and on the process of exiting administration is in the region of £3.1 million.

Railtrack

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether his officials are working as part of the team developing a company limited by guarantee to bid for Railtrack.

David Jamieson: No.

Railtrack

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether all bidders for Railtrack plc, including the company limited by guarantee, will be subject to the same submission process.

David Jamieson: This is a matter for the administrator.

Local Bus Services

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on Government investment in local bus services.

Stephen Byers: Since introducing the new system of local transport plans, in 1999, we have accepted or provisionally accepted for funding 30 bus-based major local transport schemes each with a minimum gross cost of £5 million. We are also making £198 million available to local authorities to support bus services in rural areas, as well as £46 million under the urban bus challenge scheme. The bus industry is also investing heavily, having spent some £977 million on new buses over the last three years.

Transport Review

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact his 10-year transport review will have on carbon dioxide levels.

John Spellar: The 10-Year Transport Plan, published in July 2000, sets out the impact of the plan on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. The policies and measures contained in the plan are forecast to reduce CO 2 emissions by 1.6 million tonnes of carbon by 2010.

Council Tax

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the latest estimate is of the percentage increase in council tax planned for 2002–03.

Nick Raynsford: Decisions on council tax are for local authorities to take, after consulting with their local electorate and taxpayers.
	Only when councils have set their own level of council tax in March will the full national picture about actual levels of council tax be known.

Council Tax

Nick Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will introduce council tax bands (a) lower than the current minimum and (b) higher than the current maximum.

Nick Raynsford: In the Local Government White Paper, we said that we intend to start work on a revaluation of all dwellings in 2005. Ahead of revaluation, we will listen to the views of taxpayers and local government about council tax bands.
	We shall introduce legislation to make clear that additional council tax bands can be created without new primary legislation.

Railway Carriages

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what measures he is taking to improve the quality of railway carriages.

John Spellar: Since privatisation over 3,200 new vehicles, one third of the current fleet, have been ordered worth approximately £3 billion. During its re-franchising programme the Strategic Rail Authority will seek additional commitments from bidders either for additional new rolling stock or for refurbishment of existing stock.

Travellers

David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if the Bellwin scheme to reimburse councils for emergency expenditure applies to the cost of cleaning sites used by travellers following unauthorised occupation of public parks and open spaces.

Nick Raynsford: A Bellwin scheme of emergency financial assistance may be activated to help a local authority with uninsurable clear-up costs following a disaster or emergency that involves destruction of, or danger to, life or property. My Department gives full consideration to any proposals for the activation of a scheme. To date there have been no claims for costs of cleaning sites used by travellers following unauthorised occupation of public parks and open spaces.

Housebuilding Targets

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has received from local authorities regarding regional and national housebuilding targets.

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent representations he has received from local authorities concerning regional and national housebuilding targets.

Sally Keeble: We have received representations from local authorities on a number of matters relating to planning for housing. But this Government do not set national or regional housebuilding targets. We have a national land recycling target and each region proposes its own recycling target to be established through regional planning guidance. Regional planning guidance also establishes annual rates of housing provision to be kept under regular review.

Planning Green Paper

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has received concerning the Planning Green Paper from community organisations.

Sally Keeble: The consultation period runs until 18 March. The Department has so far received less than 50 representations and no analysis of the responses has yet been undertaken.

Roads (Speeding)

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what measures he is taking to reduce accidents due to speeding on roads.

John Spellar: The measures being taken by the Government to reduce speed related road accidents are contained in the Road Safety Strategy, "Tomorrows Roads Safer for Everyone"—published in March 2000.

Rural Housing

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he is taking to tackle shortages of affordable housing in rural areas.

Sally Keeble: As we said in the Rural White Paper, we expect to deliver around 9,000 new affordable homes annually in rural areas by 2003–04. This is possible in large partly because of a near doubling in the Housing Corporation's budget from 2000–01 levels to over £1.2 billion by 2003–04.
	We are consulting on proposals to replace the present system of negotiated planning obligations with a tariff- based approach. We expect this to secure more affordable housing generally, including in rural areas.

Local Government Finance

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the local government finance settlement for the metropolitan authorities.

Nick Raynsford: The final local government finance settlement for 2002–03 was made available to the House and published yesterday.
	The settlement gives a 4.8 per cent. increase in general grant for metropolitan authorities.

Bus Services

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what measures he is taking to improve the quality of bus services.

John Spellar: We have introduced powers under the Transport Act 2000 to enable local authorities to implement enforceable Quality Partnerships and Quality Contract schemes. The Act also empowers authorities to require operators to participate in joint ticketing schemes, and enables them to step in to provide proper passenger information, at the operators' expense, if existing arrangements are inadequate.

Rail Safety

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on progress towards the implementation of recommendations made by Lord Cullen on rail safety.

John Spellar: The Government have asked the Health and Safety Commission, the regulator for railway safety, to ensure that action is taken on all the recommendations made by Lord Cullen.
	The HSC published an action plan in November 2001 on how each of the recommendations in part 1 of Lord Cullen's report would be taken forward. The HSC hope to publish before Easter a detailed progress report on the implementation of these recommendations in the six-month period to 20 December 2001.
	The HSC are currently consulting the industry about implementing the recommendations in part 2 of Lord Cullen's report. They hope to issue a progress report by Easter for the period to 8 March 2002.
	The HSC's first action plan on the recommendations from the joint inquiry into train protection systems was published in September 2001.

Rail Safety

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on gauge corner cracking; and what international representations Railtrack has received about its solutions to this problem.

David Jamieson: holding answer 25 January 2002
	Railtrack has received international representations from a variety of sources.

Local Government

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proposals he has to give local government greater independence from central Government; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: The Government set out their radical new vision for local government in the recently published White Paper, Strong Local Leadership-Quality Public Services. It contains a wide range of proposals to give local councils greater freedom to innovate and respond to local needs and aspirations of their communities. This Government believe in real local government which is truly in touch with the people it serves.

M6 Corridor

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when the multi-modal study on the M6 corridor will be published.

John Spellar: The final report of the West Midlands to North-west Conurbations Multi-Modal Study will be published for general release towards the end of March.

Railways (Wales)

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the projected level of investment is in the railway system in Wales as included in the Strategic Rail Authority's 10 year plan; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: Each individual rail project and improvements negotiated through franchise agreements will usually benefit more than one part of Britain. The SRA has therefore not attempted to break down its planned expenditure on a regional basis.

Northern Distributor Scheme

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what funding will be made available for the northern distributor scheme in Sittingbourne; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: The Sittingbourne northern distributor road proposal is a local road scheme for which developer funding is being sought. Kent county council, the highway authority concerned, have not identified this scheme in their local transport plan as one which requires public money, consequently no public funds have been made available for this scheme via the local transport plan settlement process.

Newhaven-Dieppe Ferry

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the strategic importance of the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry connection for UK transport links.

John Spellar: There are several important cross-channel ferry connections, of which the link between Newhaven and Dieppe is one. It is a matter of commercial judgment for shipping companies as to what services they choose to provide.

Maritime Transport Policy

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the Government's maritime transport policy.

John Spellar: We have introduced the tonnage tax. Together with reforms at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, this has helped bring about a significant increase in UK ship registration. We have improved funding for the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme. We are committed to safe and environmentally friendly shipping.

Local Transport

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on progress with the first schemes funded under the 10-Year Transport Plan to encourage local transport improvements.

John Spellar: Progress in introducing local transport improvements is contained in authorities' Local Transport Plan annual progress reports. The first such reports, covering the achievements made in 2000–01 indicate that authorities are starting to lay the foundations for a modern, integrated, local transport system. We expect the next reports, covering the first year in which the increased funding from the 10-Year Plan was available, to show further evidence of progress with local transport schemes.

Railway Stations

Ann Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what measures he has taken to improve facilities at railway stations in the last 12 months.

John Spellar: Train operating companies carry out works to improve station facilities at railway stations for their own commercial reasons as part of their plans to improve the service for passengers and attract greater patronage. Such improvements may also be required by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) under a train operating company's franchise agreement, or as a passenger benefit negotiated by the authority where there has been a breach of a franchise agreement, or a change of control. An additional source of funding is provided by the SRA's Rail Passenger Partnership scheme. Up to the end of 2001, a total of £45 million had been awarded to 38 projects, including improvements to railway station facilities.

Rail Overcrowding

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what progress he has made towards tackling overcrowding on the rail network.

John Spellar: The Strategic Rail Authority's Strategic Plan sets out in detail the various policies and projects which are being taken forward across the network to deliver the rail targets, which include reducing overcrowding, in the Government's 10-Year Plan.

Rail Overcrowding

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the 10 rail routes that suffer from the worst passenger congestion.

David Jamieson: The information is not held in the format requested.

Rail Strategic Plan

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what responses he has received from the rail industry to the strategic plan for the railways.

John Spellar: The plan has been warmly welcomed by the rail industry.

Rail Strategic Plan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions from which previous budget the additional £4.5 billion of rail investment referred to in the SRA Strategic Plan has been drawn.

Stephen Byers: The additional provision comes from a £2.3 billion transfer of funds from the previously unallocated budget within the Transport 10-Year Plan and, in relation to the 2 April 2001 agreement between the Government and Railtrack, from funds which are additional to those in the Transport 10-Year Plan. This means that the total Transport 10-Year Plan public expenditure and private investment envelope has been increased from £179.7 billion to £181.9 billion.

Rail Strategic Plan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether the SRA has sought his Department's consent to reduce the passenger growth target in the strategic plan to 30 per cent.

David Jamieson: The Government's 10-Year Plan target for rail passenger growth is not altered by the SRA strategic plan. The strategic plan sets out how the SRA intends to deliver the target.

Rail Strategic Plan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will give a schedule, broken down by financial year, of the projected allocation of the private sector contribution to the SRA strategic plan; and if he will indicate the purpose to which that contribution is expected to be put in each of those years.

David Jamieson: The SRA strategic plan envisages private sector investment of a very similar level to that envisaged in the 10-Year Plan. An indicative profile of this investment was outlined in Table A3 of the 10-Year Plan. Private investment will work in partnership with £33.5 billion of public investment and support to deliver the Government's 10-Year Plan objectives for rail.

Rail Strategic Plan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assumption has been made about the rate of return required by private sector investors in framing the financial models that underlie (a) the Government's 10-Year Plan and (b) the SRA strategic plan.

David Jamieson: The rates of return required by the private sector investors will vary with the nature of particular investments and the risks that are borne. Assumptions used in the 10-Year Plan and the SRA strategic plan modelling will not be published as they could have an adverse effect on commercial negotiations for particular mechanisms to deliver private investment.

Rail Strategic Plan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  what the projected annual allocations of the public sector contribution to the SRA Strategic Plan are, broken down by spending type;
	(2)  if he will give a schedule, broken down by financial year, of the allocation of the £33.5 billion public sector contribution to the SRA Strategic Plan.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones) on 23 January, 2002, Official Report, columns 871–72W.

Rail Strategic Plan

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he last met the Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority to discuss the 10-year strategic plan.

John Spellar: The Secretary of State meets the key players in the rail industry on a regular basis.

Rail Strategic Plan

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what is the total amount of public and private sector investment in the railways over the next 10 years assumed in (a) the transport 10-year plan assessed, and (b) the strategic plan published by the SRA.

Stephen Byers: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Tables A2 and A3 of the 10-Year Plan for Transport set out the estimated amount and profile of private and public investment in rail.
	The SRA strategic plan anticipates a very similar level of private investment to that estimated in the 10-Year Plan. The enhanced level of public investment funding included in the strategic plan was outlined in a written answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones) on 23 January 2002, Official Report, columns 871–72W.

London Underground

Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent representations he has received on his plans to involve the private sector in the London Underground.

John Spellar: The Deputy Prime Minister announced the Government's plans for involving the private sector in the modernisation of London Underground in March 1998. Since then the Government have received representations from a wide range of individuals and organisations.

London Underground

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  which London Underground lines will be provided with full fleets of new trains by June (a) 2006 and (b) 2010;
	(2)  if he will list the stations that are to be refurbished by June 2006, indicating what improvements are required at each station by the PPP contracts, broken down by local authority in the London Underground area;
	(3)  if he will list the service improvements that are to be delivered by the public-private partnership for London Underground by June 2006;
	(4)  if he will publish targets for reductions in (a) signal failures and (b) train breakdowns set for the public-private partnership by June 2006 that would affect the users of London Underground services.

John Spellar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) on 13 November 2001, Official Report, column 622W.

Rail Freight

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what action he is taking to improve rail freight services through the channel tunnel.

John Spellar: There have been many contacts between the British and French Governments since November. The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State and the Home Secretary have all written to their French counterparts to ask that all necessary measures are put in place as soon as possible, to enable full rail freight services to resume.

Rail Investment

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his estimate is of the total level of investment and public support to be made in the railways over the next 10 years.

Stephen Byers: We estimate that the total level of public and private investment and public support in the railways over the 10 years to 31 March 2011 will be £64.9 billion.
	The Government have committed to provide £33.5 billion of funding to the rail industry over this period, consisting of both public investment and revenue support (including direct revenue support for private investment). This represents an increase of £4.5 billion from the £29 billion total in the July 2000 10-Year Plan for Transport. Government funding will work in partnership with an estimated private investment of £34.3 billion to help deliver our 10-Year Plan objectives for rail.
	As was made clear at the time of the 10-Year Plan, the £60.4 billion total investment and public support for rail, both public and private, is net of an adjustment to exclude direct revenue support for private investment. Table A2 in the 10-Year Plan makes it clear that this is necessary to avoid double counting. The revised total of £64.9 billion, consisting of the original 10-Year Plan total plus the additional £4.5 billion of Government funding announced since then, is net of the same adjustment.

Devolution (Concordats)

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what progress his Department is making in reviewing its concordats with the devolved Administrations.

Nick Raynsford: My Department has reached agreement with the Scottish Executive on a revision of the concordat made between it and the former Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions in November 1999, to reflect Machinery of Government changes and other necessary updates. In addition, a new concordat has been agreed between my Department and the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment. Both concordats provide the framework to guide the working relationship between the parties, to promote good communications at all levels and to foster constructive co-operation.
	Copies of both concordats are being placed in the Library. They are also being made available on my Department's website.

Public Relations Consultant

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much was spent by (a) his Department and (b) bodies for which it is responsible on external public relations consultants in each of the last four years.

Alan Whitehead: My Department and its agencies have spent the following amounts on public relations consultants over the last four years in support of publicity campaigns such as 'are you doing your bit?' which encouraged people to take simple actions to protect the environment:
	
		£ 
		
			  Department Agencies 
		
		
			 1998–99 0 5,000 
			 1999–2000 683,600 4,300 
			 2000–01 748,900 84,500 
			 2001–02(1) 352,900 13,500 
		
	
	(1) Estimate
	Expenditure on PR consultants by non-departmental public bodies could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.

Fraud

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate his Department has made of the cost to its budget since 1 May 1997 of fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Whitehead: Losses due to fraud, which includes theft, are as follows.
	
		£ 
		
			  Department Agencies NDPBs Total 
		
		
			 1997–98 13,616 15,690 69,690 98,996 
			 1998–99 19,850 13,980 115,970 149,800 
			 1999–2000 22,850 30,291 78,236 131,377 
			 2000–01 43,290 47,780 201,385 292,455 
			 2001–02(2) 4,505 49,210 48,160 101,875 
			  
			 Total 104,111 156,951 513,441 774,503 
		
	
	(2) To date
	Assets have been valued at cost, net book value or replacement cost depending on the circumstances of the individual case. Recoveries from perpetrators or others, eg insurance claims, have been netted off. Some incidents are still under investigation and final values may change.

Vehicle Registration Plates

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make it his policy that Northern Ireland is included in the national flags and symbols allowed to be displayed on the vehicle registration plates.

John Spellar: holding answer 15 January 2002
	The decision to amend the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001 to allow for the display national flags and symbols on number plates in England, Scotland and Wales was taken in response to a broad consensus for change.

Theft and Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years.

Alan Whitehead: Losses due to theft and fraud are as follows:
	
		£ 
		
			  Department Agencies NDPBs Total 
		
		
			 1998–99 19,850 13,980 115,970 149,800 
			 1999–2000 22,850 30,291 78,236 131,377 
			 2000–01 43,290 47,780 201,385 292,455 
			 2001–02 (to date) 4,505 49,210 48,160 101,875 
			  
			 Total 90,495 141,261 443,751 675,507 
		
	
	Assets have been valued at cost, net book value or replacement cost depending on the circumstances of the individual case. Recoveries from perpetrators or others, e.g. insurance claims, have been netted off. Some incidents are still under investigation and final values may change.

Lost/stolen Property

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list those items valued at more than £50 which have been stolen or lost from his Department in each of the last four years.

Alan Whitehead: The details are as follows:
	
		
			   Department  Agencies  NDPBs  
			 Item Number Value (£) Number Value (£) Number Value (£) 
		
		
			 1998–99   
			 Computer 1 800 1 425 85 114,150 
			 Laptop computer 1 1,800 8 8,000 7 14,205 
			 Computer components 1 150 — — 2 145 
			 Other computer equipment 2 16,850 6 1,380 — — 
			 Telephones — — — — — — 
			 Mobile telephones — — 8 1,405 3 1,325 
			 Pagers — — 17 1,455 4 410 
			 Audio visual equipment — — 15 4,710 4 2,955 
			 Office equipment — — — — — — 
			 Other equipment 1 250 — — — — 
			 Vehicles and trailers — — — — — — 
			 Protective clothing — — — — 6 660 
			
			 1999–2000   
			 Computer 1 800 6 8,850 23 38,675 
			 Laptop computer 1 1,250 3 6,800 7 14,801 
			 Computer components 3 300 1 75 — — 
			 Other computer equipment 1 1,500 2 1,750 6 15,045 
			 Telephones — — — — — — 
			 Mobile telephones — — 1 75 2 315 
			 Pagers — — 27 1,815 — — 
			 Audio visual equipment 1 5,000 7 2,698 4 775 
			 Office equipment — — 6 4,800 1 85 
			 Other equipment — — 6 3,475 2 3,060 
			 Vehicles and trailers — — 1 905 — — 
			 Protective clothing — — 1 135 — — 
			
			 2000–01   
			 Computer 11 19,570 2 2,595 21 50,270 
			 Laptop computer 10 15,535 9 23,130 13 26,260 
			 Computer components — — 1 300 22 14,835 
			 Other computer equipment 2 450 4 5,340 55 71,775 
			 Telephones — — — — — — 
			 Mobile telephones — — 8 1,095 10 1,920 
			 Pagers — — 7 450 1 65 
			 Audio visual equipment 2 5,750 24 13,920 4 3,760 
			 Office equipment — — 2 1,600 — — 
			 Other equipment — — 3 710 — — 
			 Vehicles and trailers — — — — 1 2,350 
			 Protective clothing — — — — 2 155 
			
			 2001–02   
			 Computer — — 19 12,510 2 5,275 
			 Laptop computer 3 3,855 6 13,200 18 45,185 
			 Computer components — — — — 1 1,000 
			 Other computer equipment — — 3 3,180 — — 
			 Telephones — — — — — — 
			 Mobile telephones — — 6 700 2 250 
			 Pagers — — 14 860 — — 
			 Audio visual equipment — — 15 10,900 5 360 
			 Office equipment — — — — — — 
			 Other equipment — — 2 560 — — 
			 Vehicles and trailers — — — — — — 
			 Protective clothing — — — — — — 
		
	
	Assets have been valued at cost, net book value or replacement cost depending on the circumstances of the individual case. Recoveries from perpetrators or others, eg insurance claims, have been netted off. Some incidents are still under investigation and final values may change.

Ministerial Transport

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he last used the railway service in connection with his official duties; what station he left from and what was the destination; and whether it is his intention to make greater use of the railways in future.

Stephen Byers: I last used the railway on Monday 28 January travelling from Newcastle to London King's Cross.
	Arrangements for official travel are made in line with guidance set out in Chapter 7 of the Ministerial Code and the accompanying guidance document travel by Ministers, using the most efficient and cost effective mode of transport, and bearing in mind security considerations.
	I last used the train for official travel on Friday 16 November from London St. Pancras to Derby.

EU High Speed Interoperability Directive

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the full cost of implementing the EU High Speed Interoperability Directive; and whether these costs are provided for in the £33.5 billion strategic plan allocation.

John Spellar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Under Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Mr. Jamieson) on 23 October 2001, Official Report, column 192, and to the SRA strategic plan.

EU High Speed Interoperability Directive

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many rail bridges would have to be raised to enable Britain to comply fully with European interoperability directives.

David Jamieson: None. The directives provide for derogations for projects whereby the existing loading gauge, track gauge and space between the tracks can be retained. Therefore, existing rail bridges built to the current loading gauge would not have to be raised. These derogations can be given by the member states; they do not require approval from the European Commission.

Forth Rail Bridge

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what measures are proposed to extend the capacity of the Forth Rail Bridge, as set out in the Strategic Rail Authority report.

David Jamieson: The measures proposed include the introduction of new signalling on and around the bridge and work on other lines to divert freight trains from the route.

Stolen Equipment

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what equipment has been stolen from his Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was.

Alan Whitehead: holding answer 22 January 2002
	The details are as follows.
	
		
			   Department  Agencies  NDPBs  
			 Item Number Value (£) Number Value (£) Number Value (£) 
		
		
			 1997–98   
			 Computer 5 8,200 2 6,100 10 10,000 
			 Laptop — — 3 3,605 9 22,500 
			 Computer components 9 3,400 — — — — 
			 Other computer equipment 2 200 6 2,880 36 28,980 
			 Telephones — — 3 135 — — 
			 Pagers — — — — — — 
			 Audio visual equipment 1 400 — — 4 400 
			 Office equipment 2 450 5 1,775 2 320 
			 Other equipment 1 50 — — — — 
			 Vehicles and trailers — — — — 1 3,365 
			
			 1998–99   
			 Computer 1 800 1 425 59 87,150 
			 Laptop 1 1,800 8 8,000 6 11,705 
			 Computer components 1 150 — — 1 65 
			 Other computer equipment 2 16,850 2 1,380 — — 
			 Mobile telephones — — 4 650 3 1,325 
			 Pagers — — 1 65 — — 
			 Audio visual equipment — — 7 2,260 4 2,955 
			 Office equipment 1 250 — — — — 
			 Protective clothing — — — — 6 660 
			
			 1999–2000   
			 Computer 1 800 6 8,850 21 35,990 
			 Laptop 1 1,250 3 6,800 7 14,801 
			 Computer components 3 300 1 75 — — 
			 Other computer equipment 1 1,500 2 1,750 3 14,340 
			 Mobile telephones — — 2 125 4 855 
			 Pagers — — 2 115 — — 
			 Audio visual equipment 1 5,000 5 2,228 4 775 
			 Office equipment — — 6 4,800 1 85 
			 Other equipment — — 5 1,618 5 1,110 
			 Vehicles and trailers — — 1 905 — — 
			
			 2000–01   
			 Computer 11 19,570 2 2,595 14 40,395 
			 Laptop 10 15,535 9 23,130 14 26,285 
			 Computer components — — 1 300 — — 
			 Other computer equipment 2 450 4 5,340 75 86,120 
			 Mobile telephones — — 4 245 10 1,920 
			 Pagers — — 1 60 — — 
			 Audio visual equipment 2 5,750 11 11,650 3 3,685 
			 Office equipment — — 2 1,600 — — 
			 Other equipment — — 1 205 — — 
			 Vehicles and trailers — — — — 1 2,350 
			 Protective clothing — — — — 2 155 
			
			 2001–02   
			 Computer — — 19 21,510 2 5,275 
			 Laptop 3 3,855 6 13,200 16 42,375 
			 Other computer equipment — — 3 3,180 — — 
			 Mobile telephones 1 50 8 190 1 150 
			 Audio visual equipment — — 13 10,570 5 360 
			 Other equipment — — 2 560 — —

Voluntary Organisations

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many grants have been paid to voluntary organisations based in the Buckingham constituency from the (a) road safety small grants budget, (b) Special Grants Programme and (c) Tenant Empowerment Grant Programme, indicating the (i) level of funding and (ii) date awarded in each case.

Sally Keeble: My Department has made no awards to voluntary organisations based in the Buckingham constituency from the road safety small grants budget and the Tenant Empowerment Grant Programme. Awards to be made under the Special Grants Programme for 2002–03 are due to be announced shortly.

Workplace Deaths

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many deaths at work there were in (a) the UK and (b) Buckinghamshire in each year since 1997.

Alan Whitehead: The number of deaths of employees and self-employed people reported to the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities between 1997–98 and 2000–01 were as follows.
	
		
			  Employee Self-employed 
		
		
			 (a) Great Britain   
			 1997–98 212 62 
			 1998–99 188 65 
			 1999–2000 162 58 
			 2000–01(3) 213 78 
		
	
	(3) Provisional figures
	
		
			  Employee Self-employed 
		
		
			 (b) Buckinghamshire   
			 1997–98 2 1 
			 1998–99 1 — 
			 1999–2000 3 3 
			 2000–01(4) 4 1 
		
	
	(4) Provisional figures
	Note:
	Table (a) The figures for Buckinghamshire exclude the mining or railway industries, whose data are only available on a national basis.

Health and Safety Prosecutions

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful prosecutions for health and safety cases there were (i) in the United Kingdom and (ii) in Buckinghamshire in each year since 1997; and what the average fine per offence imposed was in each year.

Alan Whitehead: The number of successful and unsuccessful prosecutions by the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities for separate health and safety offences were as follows:
	
		HSE
		
			  Successful Unsuccessful Average fine (£) 
		
		
			 (i) Great Britain
			 1997–98 1,284 343 4,694 
			 1998–99 1,512 247 4,861 
			 1999–2000 1,616 486 6,820 
			 2000–01(5) 1,493 584 6,250 
			 
			 (ii) Buckinghamshire
			 1997–98 11 — 3,455 
			 1998–99 7 — 5,450 
			 1999–2000 8 3 1,875 
			 2000–01(5) 17 15 5,824 
		
	
	(5) Provisional figures
	Note:
	'Unsuccessful' prosecutions includes a number of charges adjourned by the court.
	
		Local authorities
		
			  Successful Unsuccessful Average fine (£) 
		
		
			 (i) Great Britain
			 1996–97 323 41 1,463 
			 1997–98 440 66 2,224 
			 1998–99 337 87 4,098 
			 1999–2000 322 90 4,595 
			 (ii) Buckinghamshire
			 1996–97 — — — 
			 1997–98 — — — 
			 1998–99 5 — 1,500 
			 1999–2000 1 — 1,000 
		
	
	Note:
	Local authority data for 2000–01 will not be available until April 2002.

Departmental Expenditure (Publications)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his estimate is of the expenditure of his Department on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in each of the last four years.

Alan Whitehead: The expenditure on centrally procured newspapers, magazines and periodicals in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions for each of the last four years to the nearest £10,000 is as follows:
	
		
			   £000 
		
		
			 1997–98 280 
			 1998–99 310 
			 1999–2000 270 
			 2000–01 310 
		
	
	Titles covered by these spending figures include daily newspapers, weekly magazines, trade and technical journal and official publications including Hansard. The figures relate solely to central procurement in the central Department and exclude spend managed in the line as well as expenditure on the part of the Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies. Compiling the corresponding data for non-centrally procured material would involve disproportionate cost.

Transport Infrastructure

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to change the financing of transport infrastructure investment to alter the balance between payment by funders and passengers once it is used and payment up-front.

David Jamieson: In financing transport infrastructure projects we continually examine and keep under review alternative options, to ensure that we are providing taxpayers with value for money, within public expenditure constraints. These matters will be an important part of our review of our 10-Year Plan for Transport, which is being carried out in parallel with work on Spending Review 2002.

Departmental Sponsorship

Jim Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the financial resources and initiatives sponsored by his Department in the last 12 months for Dorset which are additional to the Government SSA grants.

Alan Whitehead: For the financial year 2001–02 local authorities in the county of Dorset were provided with the following grants and borrowing approvals:
	
		Housing -- £
		
			 Authority Major repairs allowance (MRA) Annual capital guidelines (ACG) Disability facilities grant (DFG) 
		
		
			 Christchurch 0 291,000 126,000 
			 East Dorset 0 509,000 194,000 
			 North Dorset 0 593,000 98,000 
			 Purbeck 826,000 466,000 97,000 
			 West Dorset 0 866,000 199,000 
			 Weymouth and Portland 0 380,000 122,000 
		
	
	Transport
	Local Transport allocation to Dorset county council was £8.435 million comprising £2.628 million for integrated transport and £5.807 for maintenance.
	Dorset Rural Bus Subsidy Grant allocation for 2001–02 was £739,801 and we also awarded the county £462,000 grant under the Rural Bus Challenge bidding round for a scheme spanning the financial years 2001–02 to 2003–04.
	Travel Plan Co-ordinators were allocated £30,000 per year, starting June 2001 going though to March 2004.
	Regional Development Agency
	The South West of England Regional Development Agency planned spending for Dorset in 2001–02 totals £1,773,260. This includes some spending in Poole and Bournemouth on its Business Recovery Fund and Skills Development Fund which has not been separated out.

Local Authority Policies

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what effort he has made to encourage local authorities to be more (a) family friendly and (b) sensitive to caring responsibilities in order to attract and retain women representatives; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Whitehead: It is for local authorities rather than central Government to establish their own terms and conditions for councillors. We would hope that in doing so they will take into account the need to be family friendly and to attract and retain female councillors, as well as members from all sections of society.
	The Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) Regulations 2001 allow local authorities to pay allowances to members for expenses of arranging for the care of their children or other dependants while carrying out their council duties.

House Fires

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many people died in house fires in each of the last five years for which figures are available in the age groups (a) 0 to 18, (b) 19 to 40, (c) 41 to 65 and (d) over 65 years.

Alan Whitehead: The table shows the number of people who have died in dwelling 1 fires attended by local authority fire brigades in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000 2 .
	1 Dwellings are defined as buildings occupied by households, excluding hotels, hostels and residential institutions. They include caravans, houseboats and other non-building structures used solely as a permanent dwelling.
	2 2000 data are estimated, and are subject to revision as later information from inquests and death certificates confirming cause of death is received.
	
		
			   Age group  
			   Under 18 19–40 41–65 Over 65 
		
		
			 1996 76 99 180 206 
			 1997 68 113 145 234 
			 1998 74 124 133 181 
			 1999 45 90 136 183 
			 2000(7) 40 87 140 172

House Fires

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many people died in fires in houses of multiple occupation in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Alan Whitehead: The table shows the number of people who have died in fires in multiple occupancy dwellings 1 attended by local authority fire brigades in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000.
	1 Dwellings are defined as buildings occupied by households, excluding hotels, hostels and residential institutions. They also include caravans, houseboats and other non-building structures used solely as a permanent dwelling.
	
		
			   Number of deaths 
		
		
			 1996 209 
			 1997 201 
			 1998 204 
			 1999 171 
			 2000(6) 153 
		
	
	(6) 2000 data are estimated, and are subject to revision as later information from inquests and death certificates confirming cause of death is received.

House Fires

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what action he is taking to reduce the number of fires in houses of multiple occupation.

Alan Whitehead: The Housing (Fire Safety in Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 1997 requires that local authorities ensure that adequate means of escape and other fire precaution equipment are provided in all houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) of at least three storeys. Local authorities are encouraged to use their discretionary powers to enforce adequate means of escape and other precautions in other types of HMOs. A local authority will not register an HMO under a control scheme applying to its district unless it is satisfied that adequate means of escape from fire and other precautions have been provided.
	The Home Energy Conservation Bill currently before Parliament would provide for a mandatory control scheme for HMOs of certain categories. When parliamentary time allows, all HMOs will be covered by the new housing condition regime, the Housing Health and Safety Ratings System (HHSRS). This risk assessment based system will give greater flexibility to local authorities in dealing with the potential risk of fires in individual HMOs and in enforcing remedies, than under the existing system.

House Fires

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many (a) deaths and (b) injuries were caused by fire in domestic homes by constituency in each of the past five years.

Alan Whitehead: The table shows the number of deaths and injuries in dwelling fires for each local authority brigade area in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. Data are not available centrally below brigade area level; therefore separate figures cannot be supplied for each constituency.
	
		Deaths and injuries in dwelling(7) fires by brigade area, United Kingdom, 1996–2000
		
			   1996  1997  1998  1999  2000(8)  
			 Brigade area Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries 
		
		
			 Avon 3 167 4 174 4 178 8 189 4 177 
			 Bedfordshire 6 49 3 53 4 71 1 52 5 66 
			 Berkshire 12 99 5 107 7 96 3 126 5 95 
			 Buckinghamshire 4 90 7 81 2 85 4 112 7 112 
			 Cambridgeshire 9 120 4 125 2 135 3 113 3 108 
			 Cheshire 8 218 11 170 7 212 8 189 6 215 
			 Cleveland 5 141 10 176 2 189 3 131 1 136 
			 Cornwall 1 86 6 74 3 76 3 66 4 99 
			 Cumbria 3 75 4 95 5 97 3 88 3 76 
			 Derbyshire 5 184 7 156 8 152 7 132 9 145 
			 Devon 6 211 4 279 6 266 4 232 7 279 
			 Dorset 8 60 5 58 1 83 8 74 1 110 
			 Durham 3 118 9 129 4 121 9 103 6 99 
			 East Sussex 7 191 7 182 8 157 5 158 3 136 
			 Essex 13 200 14 211 6 234 6 267 10 292 
			 Gloucestershire 5 91 4 76 2 78 1 76 2 73 
			 Hampshire 15 239 5 208 8 283 9 198 9 209 
			 Hereford and Worcester 1 123 6 130 4 128 3 106 3 83 
			 Hertfordshire 10 136 10 144 7 129 4 154 6 156 
			 Humberside 8 261 7 217 10 229 5 264 7 204 
			 Isle of Wight 1 29 1 18 1 22 0 15 0 22 
			 Kent 12 239 7 268 5 278 5 244 9 234 
			 Lancashire 19 487 22 538 15 439 15 490 17 497 
			 Leicestershire 10 123 4 147 9 125 3 93 4 117 
			 Lincolnshire 4 100 2 84 7 77 3 101 4 78 
			 Norfolk 2 129 5 144 1 154 5 172 8 137 
			 North Yorkshire 7 131 7 126 8 148 4 112 2 129 
			 Northamptonshire 3 115 8 144 8 131 5 146 3 141 
			 Northumberland 0 53 3 44 1 51 2 45 1 62 
			 Nottinghamshire 11 241 16 324 10 257 8 295 3 287 
			 Oxfordshire 10 125 4 76 8 121 5 155 1 135 
			 Shropshire 1 72 3 61 0 61 1 60 8 73 
			 Somerset 5 56 4 46 1 77 0 50 1 51 
			 Staffordshire 7 218 10 233 8 305 7 241 8 211 
			 Suffolk 0 108 6 87 6 76 1 103 4 64 
			 Surrey 4 170 5 104 6 140 3 102 6 171 
			 Warwickshire 1 51 2 57 4 36 2 57 6 59 
			 West Sussex 2 125 5 121 4 123 7 138 3 153 
			 Wiltshire 7 76 4 81 0 100 1 79 0 77 
			
			 Greater Manchester 24 1,378 29 1,676 24 1,761 29 1,630 22 1,496 
			 Merseyside 19 791 10 856 21 860 8 884 21 816 
			 South Yorkshire 11 268 6 262 12 268 11 230 10 259 
			 Tyne and Wear 12 370 5 428 16 361 5 324 5 347 
			 West Midlands 19 744 16 767 19 776 22 737 26 633 
			 West Yorkshire 35 678 24 707 23 652 20 622 22 611 
			 Greater London 70 1,540 92 1,528 66 1,540 65 1,426 45 1,466 
			
			 North Wales 7 197 5 184 10 187 5 197 3 159 
			 Mid and West Wales 8 133 9 197 5 189 5 239 14 261 
			 South Wales 18 334 16 394 15 369 11 380 8 359 
			
			 Northern Ireland 7 503 26 488 24 443 27 431 13 417 
			
			 Strathclyde 56 902 42 1,011 48 993 40 951 39 1,050 
			 Highlands and Islands 7 43 5 55 8 65 1 64 3 47 
			 Grampian 9 143 7 147 5 173 4 161 5 201 
			 Tayside 4 132 3 98 5 132 5 168 5 160 
			 Lothian and Borders 6 312 8 351 2 317 14 453 12 350 
			 Fife 8 114 2 110 4 92 10 92 3 88 
			 Central 6 67 4 59 2 60 3 86 0 71 
			 Dumfries 0 33 3 30 2 21 4 21 0 32 
		
	
	(7) Dwellings are defined as buildings occupied by households, excluding hotels, hostels and residential institutions. They also include caravans, houseboats and other non-building structures used solely as a permanent dwelling.
	(8) 2000 data are estimated, and are subject to revision as later information from inquests and death certificates confirming cause of death is received.

House Fires

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many (a) deaths and (b) injuries were caused by fires in council-owned domestic homes by local authority in each of the past five years.

Alan Whitehead: The information requested is not available centrally.

House Fires

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what initiatives are being pursued to promote the use of sprinkler systems in domestic houses; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Whitehead: The Government are committed to reducing the number of accidental dwelling fire deaths. To underpin this commitment we have set a target to reduce preventable dwelling fire deaths by 20 per cent. by 31 March 2004. We aim to achieve this reduction through greater efforts in educating householders, by means of publicity campaigns, about what measures they can take to make their home safer from fire.
	It has been our policy for some time that smoke alarms have a vital role to play in saving lives as they provide the vital early warning of fire and therefore help people to escape. Since 1987, when the cost of smoke alarms became affordable at around £5, we have conducted, and will continue to run high profile national and regional television campaigns promoting smoke alarms, which have proved very successful.
	The Government nevertheless recognise that in some cases more direct protection from fire may be appropriate and therefore provides guidance on a range of other fire protection measures, such as domestic sprinklers. The issue of domestic sprinklers is included in the 'Toolbox' of education and publicity material developed by the National Community Fire Safety Centre for use by fire brigades and others. We also plan to produce later this year a publicity leaflet to inform the general public about domestic sprinklers.

Head of Media

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he received a recommendation for his Department's new head of media; and if he will make a statement on subsequent actions.

Alan Whitehead: It is not our practice to disclose details of internal advice, in line with Section 2 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Train Operating Companies

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much money has been (a) provided in subsidies and (b) received in paybacks from each train operating company in each financial year since April 1995.

David Jamieson: The annual reports of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) and, prior to 1999, the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF) provide detailed breakdowns of subsidy and performance regime payments by individual train operating companies.

Train Operating Companies

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much money received in paybacks from train operating companies in each financial year since April 1995 has been spent on the railways as (a) public resource expenditure, (b) public investment and (c) public expenditure supporting private investment.

David Jamieson: Income from receipts to the Strategic Rail Authority, and formerly to the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising, cannot be attributed to any specific expenditure by those bodies.

National Rail Summit

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the targets set at the annual national rail summit in each year since 1998; and what progress has been made towards the targets.

David Jamieson: National Rail Summits were held in 1999 and 2000. No targets were set at either summit, although the rail industry offered a number of commitments in 1999. A summary of progress against the 1999 commitments was included in the press notices for the 2000 summit.

Motorways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many miles of motorway have been opened in each of the past 10 years.

David Jamieson: Estimates of the change in the total length of the GB motorway network are given in the table.
	
		(miles) 
		
			  Net change in length of motorway network 
		
		
			 1992 19.5 
			 1993 4.0 
			 1994 17.6 
			 1995 13.2 
			 1996 23.0 
			 1997 42.3 
			 1998 28.5 
			 1999 37.3 
			 2000 10.7 
			 2001 6.1 
		
	
	Note:
	A change in road classification can reduce motorway length.

Motorways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proportion of Britain's motorway network is visible from CCTV and other monitoring cameras.

David Jamieson: The Secretary of State is responsible for motorways in England.
	Approximately a third of this motorway network is visible from CCTV and other monitoring cameras.

Rail Subsidy

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the public subsidy to the railways per passenger mile in each year since 1997.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to tables 1.1 and 4.1 of the Strategic Rail Authority's quarterly National Rail Trends bulletin for the historic series on rail passenger kilometres and Government support to the rail industry.

Standard Spending Assessment (Reigate and Banstead)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he will provide written confirmation to the borough of Reigate and Banstead about the revision of its SSA allocation for 2002–03.

Alan Whitehead: The Government's final proposals for distributing formula grant to local authorities for 2002–03 was laid before the House on Monday 28 January and the information on allocations has been made available to local authorities. The House will have a chance to debate the Government's proposals on Wednesday 30 January.

Automatic Train Protection Systems

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his estimate is of the total cost of introducing automatic train protection systems on the rail network.

David Jamieson: A steering group jointly chaired by the Strategic Rail Authority and Railway Safety is presently evaluating the options for the extension of automatic train protection and their costs.

GNER Franchise

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when the renewal process for the GNER franchise, post-the two year extension, will begin.

David Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority will ensure that appropriate arrangements are put in place in good time before the new agreement expires in April 2005.

Departmental Relocations

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment his Department makes of the impact on the local economy when considering proposals for the relocation of Government Department buildings and buildings used by Government-sponsored agencies.

Alan Whitehead: The Department is carrying out a programme of reviews of its future accommodation needs in each region for its own staff, its agencies and the Government offices for the regions. It is the Department's policy to provide any new accommodation by co-locating such bodies.
	The objectives of a co-location project are to: reduce running costs; increase operational flexibility; increase disposability of accommodation; improve the working environment; promote sustainable development; deliver high quality design; and facilitate joined-up Government. A matrix of detailed criteria, used to evaluate options for co-location, includes the requirement for the new building to attain an "Excellent" BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) rating, to be located in the centre of a town or city with good links to an integrated public transport system and to involve the redevelopment of a brownfield site, if available.
	Each co-location project includes the Government office in the region and they are able to bring into account more detailed issues relating local impact.

Road Traffic Accidents

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many (a) fatal, (b) severe non-fatal and (c) other non-fatal injuries have been sustained in road traffic accidents by (i) drivers, (ii) passengers, (iii) cyclists and (iv) pedestrians in each of the last 10 years.

David Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the tables.
	
		(i) Driver and rider(9) casualties in Great Britain
		
			   Fatal Serious Slight 
		
		
			 1991 1,894 23,310 122,048 
			 1992 1,815 21,936 124,169 
			 1993 1,622 20,504 125,833 
			 1994 1,609 20,935 131,168 
			 1995 1,613 20,618 129,550 
			 1996 1,670 20,427 137,823 
			 1997 1,748 20,489 144,700 
			 1998 1,712 19,519 147,002 
			 1999 1,709 19,058 146,149 
			 2000 1,772 19,127 150,224 
		
	
	(9) Excludes pedal cycle riders. Includes drivers and riders of all other types of motor and non-motor vehicles.
	
		(ii) Passenger(10) casualties in Great Britain
		
			   Fatal Serious Slight 
		
		
			 1991 936 10,833 73,500 
			 1992 863 10,684 74,905 
			 1993 765 9,483 75,713 
			 1994 745 9,970 77,398 
			 1995 757 9,902 76,219 
			 1996 728 9,871 79,025 
			 1997 695 9,033 80,901 
			 1998 645 8,586 79,939 
			 1999 672 8,105 78,889 
			 2000 653 7,744 78,118 
		
	
	(10) Excludes passengers on pedal cycles.
	
		(iii) Pedal cyclist casualties in Great Britain
		
			  Fatal Serious Slight 
		
		
			 1991 242 3,947 20,628 
			 1992 204 3,788 20,777 
			 1993 186 3,611 20,290 
			 1994 172 3,829 20,838 
			 1995 213 3,754 20,978 
			 1996 203 3,586 20,795 
			 1997 183 3,409 21,044 
			 1998 158 3,154 19,611 
			 1999 172 3,004 19,664 
			 2000 127 2,643 17,842 
		
	
	
		(iv) Pedestrian casualties in Great Britain
		
			  Fatal Serious Slight 
		
		
			 1991 1,496 13,528 39,006 
			 1992 1,347 12,848 37,417 
			 1993 1,241 11,422 35,465 
			 1994 1,124 11,806 35,765 
			 1995 1,038 11,259 34,786 
			 1996 997 10,615 34,838 
			 1997 973 10,053 34,575 
			 1998 906 9,575 34,405 
			 1999 879 8,955 33,063 
			 2000 857 8,641 32,535

Road Traffic Accidents

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many road traffic accidents there were last year involving children in (a) 30 mph zones and (b) 40 mph zones.

David Jamieson: In Great Britain in 2000 there were 27,731 injury road accidents on roads with a 30 mph speed limit which involved a child casualty. There were 2,151 such accidents on roads with a 40 mph speed limit. These figures include accidents involving children aged under 16 and travelling as any category of road user, including pedestrians, cyclists and passengers.

Ordnance Survey Trading Fund

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make it his policy to set up an independent regulator to ensure fair competition in the Ordnance Survey Trading Fund's competitive tendering.

Sally Keeble: No. As a Government Department and Executive Agency Ordnance Survey is already bound by the European Commission Public Procurement Regulations for all contracts over the agreed threshold. In addition, all tenders are subject to UK Government regulations on competitive tendering.

Construction Industry (Scotland)

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many accidents resulting in (a) fatalities, (b) serious injury and (c) minor injury have taken place in the construction industry in Scotland during (i) 2001, (ii) 2000 and (iii) 1999, broken down by geographical area.

Alan Whitehead: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Local Authority Best Value Regime

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he will publish the three-month reassessment of Best Value.

Alan Whitehead: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May).

Local Authority Best Value Regime

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when the review of Best Value will be completed; and for what reason the original deadline of 31 December 2001 was not met.

Stephen Byers: holding answer 25 January 2002
	I announced on 1 October 2001 a review of the Best Value regime for local authorities aimed at improving the quality of services. A review group, under the chairmanship of the Minister for Local Government, was set up to take this work forward. I asked the group to report by the end of 2001. In December 2001 the chair of the review group indicated that it had made good progress in a number of areas, but that it would like more time to consider carefully some significant proposals which had been put forward in mid December by members. I agreed to this and hope that the group can complete its work in the near future.

Speed Cameras

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  how many fixed-site speed cameras operate in the Metropolitan police area.
	(2)  how many safety cameras operating at traffic lights to detect red light running there are in the Metropolitan police area.

David Jamieson: This information is not held centrally.

Bus Contracts

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many quality bus contracts have been approved and where.

Sally Keeble: Powers under the Transport Act 2000 relating to quality bus contracts were brought into force in October last year. No local authorities have yet brought forward proposals for quality contract schemes.

Health and Safety Executive

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list each Health and Safety Executive office building by (a) location and (b) number of people employed.

Alan Whitehead: HSE properties and staffing are as follows:
	
		
			 Building Location HSE staff 
		
		
			 Rose Court London 574 
			 St. Hugh's House Bootle 172 
			 St. Anne's House Bootle 127 
			 St. Peter's House Bootle 258 
			 Magdalen House Bootle 326 
			 Daniel House Bootle 320 
			 Merton House Bootle 92 
			 Cherry Lane Warehouse Bootle 0 
			 Belford House Edinburgh 119 
			 Pegasus House Glasgow 82 
			 Lord Cullen House Aberdeen 107 
			 Longman Road Inverness 5 
			 Sovereign House Sheffield 78 
			 Marshalls Mill Leeds 112 
			 Arden House Newcastle upon Tyne 78 
			 Grove House Manchester 155 
			 Marshall House Preston 50 
			 Victoria Place Carlisle 11 
			 Belgrave House Northampton 64 
			 Stoneleigh Warwickshire 8 
			 McLaren Building Birmingham 122 
			 Pearson Building Nottingham 83 
			 Intercity House Bristol 61 
			 Ballard House Plymouth 18 
			 Darkgate Buildings Carmarthen 11 
			 Marches House Newcastle under Lyme 50 
			 Haswell House Worcester 23 
			 Crown Buildings Wrexham 17 
			 Government Buildings Llanishen 92 
			 East Grinstead House East Grinstead 71 
			 International house Ashford 21 
			 St. Dunstan's House London 128 
			 Priestley House Basingstoke 84 
			 Stinsford Road Poole 6 
			 Baddow Road Chelmsford 60 
			 Kiln House Norwich 27 
			 Thorpe Road Norwich 32 
			 Cardiff Road Luton 95 
			 Broad Lane (HSL) Sheffield (11)291 
			 Harpur Hill (HSL) Buxton (12)137 
		
	
	(11) Including 258 HSL staff
	(12) All HSL staff
	Notes:
	1. The HSE staffing figures refer to the HSE permanent staff employed on 1 January 2002.
	2. The figures do not include any contractors' staff or agency staff employed in the buildings.

Liverpool-Kirkby Tram Scheme

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the viability of Merseytravel's proposals for a tram scheme between Liverpool and Kirkby; and if he will make a statement.

Sally Keeble: My officials are currently considering the appraisal submitted by Merseytravel for a light rail line between Liverpool and Kirkby. I hope to make an announcement shortly.

Drivers (Smoking)

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his policy is on action to deter or prevent people from smoking while driving a vehicle.

David Jamieson: The Department has no evidence to indicate that smoking while driving is a significant cause of road traffic accidents. However, the police do have powers to deal with those who fail to maintain control of their vehicles at all times or who drive carelessly or dangerously. Failure to exercise proper control, and careless driving, carry maximum fines of £2,5000. The maximum penalties for dangerous driving are up to two years imprisonment, disqualification and an unlimited fine.
	We will continue to educate drivers about the importance of remaining alert while driving. Rule 126 of the Highway Code deals with safe and responsible driving and highlights the need to concentrate and avoid distractions.

Bus Lanes

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what consultations he has had with organisations representing (a) pedestrians, (b) cyclists and (c) public transport operators regarding the use of bus lanes by motor cyclists.

David Jamieson: The Department has had no specific consultation about the use of bus lanes by motor cyclists but is aware of a range of concerns about this use, especially among cyclists' organisations. The Department's advice does not promote motorcycling in bus lanes but we are carrying out research to see whether this should be changed. We would expect to consult organisations representing various road user groups if, following trials, any changes are proposed.

Road Building Programme

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the effect on the number of (a) fatal and (b) non-fatal accidents of the UK road building programme, for each year up to and including 2010; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: In England, the 10-Year Plan for transport provides the resources to enable central Government, the Highways Agency and local authorities, through their Local Transport Plans, to take action on road safety to support the Government's strategy for achieving its UK road safety targets. These targets are to reduce by 2010 the number of killed or seriously injured in road accidents by 40 per cent., and children by 50 per cent., compared with the average for 1994–98. Road building is expected to make a significant contribution towards achieving these targets. However, in England, local and central Government road building plans are not yet fully defined. In particular, on the strategic road network, the choice of specific schemes will depend on the outcome of the multi-modal studies currently being carried out. The road building programmes for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are devolved matters.

Road Building Programme

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the change in traffic as a result of the UK road building programme for each year up to and including 2010.

David Jamieson: In England, the 10-Year Plan for transport includes significant investment in the strategic and local road network to tackle the problems of congestion, pollution, and safety. On the strategic road network in England, the choice of specific schemes will depend on the outcome of the multi-modal studies currently being carried out. But the increased level of investment in trunk roads in England is expected to result in 0.4 per cent. more traffic on all roads and 0.9 per cent. on inter-urban trunk roads in 2010. The 10-Year Plan as a whole is expected to reduce traffic growth in England between 2000 and 2010 from 22 per cent. to 17 per cent. on all roads and from 29 per cent. to 26 per cent. on inter-urban trunk roads. Responsibility for these matters has been devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Executive Committee respectively.

Aircraft Noise

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions further to his answers of 5 July 2001, Official Report, column 243W, and 23 October 2001, Official Report, column 194W, on aircraft noise and night flights, when he will publish the Government's response to his Department's consultation on the control of noise from civil aircraft; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: Many of the proposals set out in our consultation paper "Control of noise from civil aircraft" (July 2000) concerned enabling powers relating to noise policy issues that will be dealt with in the air transport White Paper. There are also relevant provisions in the recently proposed EC Directive on "the establishment of rules and procedures with regard to the introduction of noise related operating restrictions at Community airports". Having examined the responses to the consultation paper in this context, we have decided that it would be more appropriate to announce conclusions on the enabling powers in the White Paper itself.
	Responses to the consultation are available for inspection at the Department's offices. We shall shortly publish a summary.

Merchant Ships

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he is taking to ensure that crews on ships (a) registered in the UK and (b) sailing in UK waters comply with international safety standards.

David Jamieson: International safety standards for seafarers are enshrined in the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping 1978, as revised in 1995, known as STCW 95. Those standards are implemented in the UK through the Merchant Shipping (Training and Certification) Regulations 1997 and the Merchant Shipping (Safe Manning, Hours of Work and Watchkeeping) Regulations 1997.
	All Parties to the STCW 95 Convention have until 1 February 2002 to comply with the requirements of the Convention. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Merchant Navy Training Board (MNTB) have worked closely to ensure that all maritime training courses properly reflect STCW 95.
	To comply with the revised international standards, and to revalidate their certificates under STCW 95, seafarers have to undertake further short courses in, for example, Advanced Fire Fighting and Proficiency in Survival Craft and Fast Rescue Boats.
	Seafarers holding foreign Certificates of Competency will only be able to sail on UK registered ships if the country issuing the certificate has been assessed by the MCA to be of STCW 95 standard with training equivalent to that of the UK. The certificates of seafarers on foreign registered ships calling at UK ports are checked as part of the inspections carried out under the Port State Control regime.

Merchant Ships

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he is taking to improve the recruitment rate of merchant ships' officers.

David Jamieson: Recruitment is a matter for the individual shipping companies themselves. There are Government measures, however, to assist and encourage the training and employment of British seafarers. We provide financial support for seafarer training through the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme. Following a review of SMarT in autumn/winter 2000 and the receipt of EU state aid clearance, additional courses will be included in the scheme and levels of funding will be increased. We introduced the tonnage tax option as part of the Finance Act 2000, a key feature of which is a minimum training obligation. This feature is unique to the UK, and requires each shipping company opting for the tonnage tax to recruit and train one officer trainee each year for every 15 officer posts in its fleet and also give consideration to employment and training opportunities for ratings.

Train Reliability

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the reliability of each train operating company over the last six months.

David Jamieson: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Performance figures and commentary are published in the Strategic Rail Authority's six monthly "On Track" publication, copies of which are placed in the Library of the House. The latest edition, published in December 2001, covers the six months from 1 April to 13 October 2001.

Railway Capacity

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 23 January 2002, Official Report, column 871W, what is the (a) current and (b) expected capacity of the (i) London to Southampton and London to Portsmouth and (ii) Bristol to Portsmouth railway lines; by when the expected capacity will be achieved; and if he will ensure that new franchise arrangements for Island Line provide for effective connections with the London to Portsmouth line, even when its services run late.

David Jamieson: holding answer 28 January 2002
	There is no simple measure of capacity on the network. The part of the network used by the South West Trains franchise is congested in a few particular areas, especially where lines converge in the approaches to London. Under the proposed new franchise agreement Stagecoach plan a revision of the timetable to permit an increase in the number of trains into Waterloo from September 2003. Some new trains have already been introduced by SWT, providing additional capacity, and a further tranche are due to enter service at the end of 2002. In the longer term work to lengthen platforms will allow longer trains to operate on the Southampton and Portsmouth routes.
	The SRA are developing a franchise proposition for the replacement of the Island Line franchise. The authority are well aware of the importance of connections between trains, ferries and buses.

Combined Fire Authorities

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will take steps to separate precepting for combined fire authorities.

Alan Whitehead: We announced at paragraph 6.53 of Part II of the Local Government White Paper "Strong Local Leadership—Quality Public Services", published on 11 December, proposals to take the legislative steps necessary to make combined fire authorities in England major precepting authorities. A copy of the White Paper is in the Library and is also available on the DTLR website: http://www.local-regions.dtlr.gov.uk/sll/index.htm.

Rail Services (Romford)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on rail services to Romford since June 2001.

David Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) does not monitor performance by route group. However, the SRA's public performance measure indicates that 85.6 per cent. of First Great Eastern services, which include services to and from Romford, arrived at their destination within five minutes of timetable between July and October 2001. As part of the SRA's franchise replacement process it is intended that the First Great Eastern franchise will form part of a new Greater Anglia franchise from 2004. This will provide an opportunity for the Strategic Rail Authority to secure improvements in performance and quality of service for passengers.

Air Transport Industry (Insurance Costs)

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact of the level of insurance costs imposed on the air transport industry following the events of 11 September.

David Jamieson: The Government are aware that following the events of 11 September there has been a significant increase in the cost of insurance for the air transport industry. This is primarily a commercial matter, and we would expect the increased premia to be passed on to users of air transport services in the normal way.
	In the case of third-party war and terrorism risks there was a market failure, with the insurance industry withdrawing cover above minimum levels in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks. In response the Government intervened to guarantee levels of cover for airlines up to the amounts held prior to 11 September, with similar arrangements for airports and ground service providers. My right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has recently announced that this scheme, as subsequently amended, will be carried over till 20 March 2002.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the numbers of (a) private and (b) commercial vehicles running on LPG fuel in (a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999, (d) 2000, (e) 2001, (f) 2002 and (g) 2003.

David Jamieson: DVLA statistics do not provide a breakdown by fuel type, only vehicles that are dedicated gas or petrol/gas combinations. The following table shows the number of vehicles that are dedicated gas or petrol/gas combination, by tax class as they do not distinguish between private and commercial usage. DVLA statistics also do not distinguish between Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Natural Gas vehicles. However, cars and light commercial vehicles tend to use LPG, while heavier vehicles use natural gas:
	
		
			   1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 Private and Light Goods 6,689 10,121 14,421 21,098 23,533 
			 Buses 31 53 97 121 140 
			 Goods vehicles 75 93 141 171 227 
			 Special vehicles 1,327 1,281 1,310 1,394 1,413 
			 Other vehicles 965 986 1,041 1,184 1,381 
			  
			 Total 9,087 12,534 17,010 23,968 26,694 
		
	
	But this understates the number of vehicles because not all conversions to alternative fuelling are notified to DVLA.
	There are currently estimated to be around 50,000 LPG vehicles in the UK. Motorists are converting to LPG at an increasing rate, with the number expected to increase by about 25,000 per year over the next two years, prompted by the Government grants available, and the fact that low-cost LPG fuel is now available in all areas of the country.

Community Transport Schemes

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he plans to announce the funding arrangements that will apply to community transport schemes in south Gloucestershire for April 2002.

Sally Keeble: South Gloucestershire council is able to bid for Government funding to support community transport schemes under either the urban or rural bus challenge competitions. In addition, funding allocated to it from the rural bus subsidy grant scheme may be used for continuing support of a project initially supported by a rural bus challenge award.
	The results of the latest round of the Rural Bus Challenge, including an award of £578,827 to the authority for the continuation of the Vale Link and Yate and Sobbury community transport schemes in south Gloucestershire, were announced on 25 January.
	We will be introducing shortly arrangements under which for the first time a wide range of community transport services will become eligible for the receipt of fuel duty rebate.

Highways Agency

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when the Highways Agency Business Plan for 2002–03 will be published; and what targets he has set.

David Jamieson: The Highways Agency's Business Plan, which contains the targets set for 2002–03, will be published tomorrow. A copy will be placed in the House Library.
	These targets are:
	In order to deliver best value for money, maintain the network so that the proportion requiring maintenance within the next year is held between 7 per cent. and 8 per cent.
	98 per cent. of lanes available at all times.
	90 per cent. of routine maintenance done outside of peak hours.
	complete the remaining congestion Early Action schemes in the programme.
	Achieve at least 48 of 51 major scheme milestones.
	Reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on trunk roads in 2002–03 by at least 555 to 4,436 (compared with the 1994–98 average of 4,991).
	Reduce the slight casualty rate to no more than 21.41 slight casualties per hundred million vehicle kilometres (compared with the 1994–98 average of 22.14).
	Complete the remaining safety Early Action schemes in the programme.
	Introduce a national HA Traffic Control Centre.
	Achieve an average score of no less than 7.5 on the agency's Road User Satisfaction survey (on a scale of 1–10 with one being extremely poor and 10 being extremely good).
	Install automatic hold up warning systems on at least 200 km of motorway length.
	Achieve an average of at least 95 per cent. across four environmental sub-indicators.
	Percentage of residential properties owned that are vacant not to exceed 15 per cent. of the residential portfolio.
	Percentage of vacant habitable properties empty for more than six months at the end of the year not to exceed 3 per cent. of the residential portfolio.

Town and Country Planning

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many notifications the Environment Agency has received from (a) Buckinghamshire county council and (b) Aylesbury Vale district council under the requirements of the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995.

Michael Meacher: I have been asked to reply.
	In the period from 1 January to 31 December 2001 the Environment Agency has been consulted under the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995 21 times by Buckinghamshire county council, and 87 times by Aylesbury Vale district council.

PRIME MINISTER

Data Privacy and Sharing

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Prime Minister when he intends to publish the PIU report on data privacy and sharing.

Tony Blair: The Performance and Innovation Unit's report on privacy and data sharing will be published in due course.

Crime Reduction

Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr. Duncan Smith) of 9 January 2002, Official Report, column 539, if he will publish the text of the letter to which he referred and state whether it had been (a) drafted, (b) signed and (c) sent at the time of his answer.

Tony Blair: The letter from my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Withington (Mr. Bradley), the Minister of State, Home Office, to which I referred on 9 January, had been written, signed personally by the Minister and a copy sent to the newspaper concerned at the time of my answer. A copy of the letter is being placed in the Library.

Whittington Hospital

Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr. Duncan Green) of 23 January 2002, Official Report, column 880, if he will (a) give the name and title of the author or authors of the letter to which he refers, (b) publish the text and (c) state what assistance in the drafting of the letter was (i) offered by and (ii) received from Government officials, including special advisers and NHS press officers.

Tony Blair: The letter referred to is the property of the Whittington hospital NHS trust. I note that the letter sent by the trust to the Evening Standard was published on 24 January.
	No Government officials, including special advisers, gave any assistance in the drafting of this letter. NHS press officers are employed, and report to, the trusts themselves.

Saville Inquiry

Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Macclesfield (Mr. Winterton) of 16 January 2002, Official Report, column 289, if the cost he quoted of the inquiry included (a) the cost to the Ministry of Defence, (b) the anticipated future costs to the Northern Ireland Office, (c) the cost of Lord Saville's salary and (d) the cost of legal aid; and if he will make a statement of the total cost (i) to date and (ii) which is anticipated.

Tony Blair: The figure of £52 million in my previous answer was the expenditure by the inquiry to 7 January 2002. That cost is met by the Northern Ireland Office. For the anticipated future cost, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to the hon. Member for Reigate (Mr. Blunt) on 17 December 2001, Official Report, column 40W.
	For details of the cost to the Ministry of Defence, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister of State for the armed forces to the hon. Member for Reigate (Mr. Blunt) on 14 January 2002, Official Report, columns 2–3W. Other Departments have incurred some costs as a result of a relatively small amount of staff time being deployed on these issues.
	Lord Saville continues to receive his salary as a Law Lord, which is met from the Consolidated Fund.
	No expenditure has fallen to the budget of the Legal Aid scheme in Northern Ireland as a result of the Bloody Sunday inquiry.

Golden Jubilee

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on plans for celebrating the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen's Accession to the Throne.

Tony Blair: I welcome this opportunity, on behalf of the whole nation, to offer the warmest congratulations to the Queen on the 50th anniversary of her Accession, and to express gratitude for half a century of devoted service to the people of the United Kingdom.
	I announced on 23 November 2001, Official Report, column 294W, that Her Majesty will attend a National Thanksgiving Service in St. Paul's Cathedral on Tuesday 4 June 2002. That day will be a bank holiday in place of the spring bank holiday, which would otherwise fall on 27 May. Monday 3 June will be an additional bank holiday for the Golden Jubilee.
	On 22 June 2001, Official Report, column 7W, I announced the main features of the Queen's United Kingdom programme of Golden Jubilee visits and on 3 August my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport announced in a news release the main celebrations planned in central London over the Golden Jubilee weekend of 1 to 4 June 2002.
	I am pleased to be able to announce the programme of visits and other events throughout the United Kingdom from May to August this year, which will be undertaken by Her Majesty and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, to mark the Golden Jubilee.
	As I announced on 22 June 2001, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will be travelling as widely as possible around the United Kingdom during this year, including visits to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, although they will not be able to visit all cities and counties. However, their itinerary will enable them to meet as many people as possible throughout the country.
	The programme is as follows:
	29 April—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend a Dinner at No. 10 Downing street
	30 April—the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend a Session of the Joint Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall at which Her Majesty will address both Houses
	South West of England (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Bath)
	1 May—Falmouth; Trelissick; Truro; Exeter
	2 May—Taunton; Wells; Bath
	North East of England (Tyne and Wear and County Durham)
	7 May—Sunderland; Gateshead; Newcastle
	8 May—Durham; Darlington; Stockton (the Duke of Edinburgh)
	9 May—East London
	South East of England (Buckinghamshire and Berkshire)
	10 May—Aylesbury; Marlow; Bisham Abbey
	16–17 May—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend the Royal Windsor Horse Show
	18 May—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will take the Salute at "All the Queen's Horses", Royal Windsor Horse Show
	20 May—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend the Chelsea Flower Show
	21 May—the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will open the new Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace
	22 May—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend an Arts Reception at the Royal Academy, London
	Scotland
	23 May—the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend a Scottish Service of Thanksgiving at Glasgow Cathedral
	24 May—Falkirk; Edinburgh (including a Reception in the Palace of Holyroodhouse)
	25 May—the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will open the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh; the Queen will also host a Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse
	26 May—the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend the General Assembly Service, St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh
	27 May—Isle of Skye; Isle of Lewis; Wick
	28 May—Aberdeen (including a visit to the Scottish Parliament, sitting at King's College Conference Centre, Aberdeen University); Dundee
	29 May—Lauder Melrose
	Jubilee Weekend
	1 June—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will host the Queen's Concert (Classical Concert) in the Gardens at Buckingham Palace
	2 June—the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend a Jubilee Church Service, St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
	3 June—Windsor and Slough
	3 June—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will host the Queen's Concert (Pop Concert) in the Gardens at Buckingham Palace, after which Her Majesty will light a National Beacon in the Mall and view a fireworks display
	4 June—the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend a National Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral, after a Ceremonial Procession from Buckingham Palace
	4 June—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend a lunch hosted by the Lord Mayor and the Corporation of London at Guildhall in the City of London
	4 June—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend the Golden Jubilee Festival in the Mall
	4 June—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will make a Balcony Appearance at Buckingham Palace and watch a Royal Air Force Fly Past
	6 June—North London, followed by a Garden Party at Lambeth Palace
	South East of England (West Sussex)
	7 June—South of England Show, Ardingly
	10 June—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will give a Reception for Representatives of Different Faiths at Buckingham Palace
	Wales
	11 June—Anglesey; Colwyn Bay
	the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend a Welsh Service of Thanksgiving at Bangor Cathedral
	12 June—Dolau; Llanelli; Margam Park
	13 June—Bridgend; Rhondda Valley; Newport; Cardiff (including a visit to the National Assembly for Wales)
	15 June—the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will take the Salute at Her Majesty's Birthday Parade, Horseguards
	17 June—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend the Service of the Order of the Garter at St. George's Chapel, Windsor
	17 June—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will give a Dinner for European Sovereigns, Windsor Castle
	18–22 June—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend Royal Ascot
	25 June—West London
	26 June—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will give a Dinner for Representatives of the Armed Forces, Windsor Castle
	27 June—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will visit the Armed Forces, Portsmouth and visit Portsmouth
	West Midlands (West Midlands, Staffordshire and Warwickshire)
	2 July—Solihull; Birmingham
	3 July—Burton upon Trent; Stoneleigh
	4 July—South London
	5 July—the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend a Parade in the Gardens of Buckingham Palace for all Her Majesty's Body Guards and the In-Pensioners of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
	9 July—the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will present Medals to the winners of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Poetry Competition for Schools, at Buckingham Palace
	9 July—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will give a Garden Party in the Gardens of Buckingham Palace, when guests will include those born on Accession Day
	Yorkshire (West Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire)
	11 July—Leeds; Wakefield (the Duke of Edinburgh); Bradford (the Duke of Edinburgh); Harewood House (Festival)
	12 July—Beverley
	16 July—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will give a Garden Party in the Gardens of Buckingham Palace, when guests will include young people born since the 1977 Silver Jubilee
	East Anglia (Suffolk and Norfolk)
	17 July—Ipswich; Stowmarket; Bury St. Edmund's
	18 July—Great Yarmouth (the Duke of Edinburgh); Norwich
	18 July—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will give a Garden Party for Norfolk at Sandringham House
	23 July—the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will open the new Greater London Authority building
	23 July—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend a Gala at Covent Garden
	North West of England (Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and opening the Commonwealth Games in Manchester)
	24 July—Macclesfield; Greater Manchester
	25 July—Liverpool; open Commonwealth Games, Greater Manchester
	26 July—Visit Commonwealth Games venues, Greater Manchester
	30 July—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will give a Garden Party in the Gardens of Buckingham Palace, when guests will include representatives of charities of which Her Majesty and His Royal Highness are Patron
	East Midlands (Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire)
	31 July—Scunthorpe; Nottingham
	1 August—Leicester; Derby
	4 August—Close Commonwealth Games in Manchester
	North West of England (Lancashire and Cumbria)
	5 August—Preston; Carlisle
	5 August—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend the Edinburgh Tattoo, Edinburgh Castle
	7 August—the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will give a Garden Party at Balmoral Castle.
	These details, together with further information about other confirmed Golden Jubilee celebrations and events can be found on the searchable calendar of events being launched today on the official Golden Jubilee website at http://www.goldenjubilee.gov.uk/. The British Monarchy website at http://www.royal/gov.uk/ also has details of the Queen's programme and other royal engagements. These will be updated throughout the year as confirmation of events is received.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Portcullis House

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what the policy of the Committee is towards the supply of clocks for hon. Members' rooms and those of their staff in Portcullis House; and what advice has been received from the architect of the building.

Derek Conway: Clocks are not provided for hon. Members' rooms or those of their staff in Portcullis House as there are several displays of the time in every office. As far as I am aware, advice was not sought from the architect.

Portcullis House

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee how many clocks have been purchased for installation in hon. Members' rooms and those of their staff in Portcullis House; and at what cost.

Derek Conway: I refer the right hon. and learned Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead (John Austin) on 24 January 2002, Official Report, column 1002W.

Portcullis House

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what contractual limits have been placed by the architect on the use of Portcullis House by hon. Members and their staff.

Derek Conway: No contractual limits have been placed on the use of Portcullis House by the architect; its use is a matter for the authorities of the House.
	The House has, however, awarded a five-year commission with Michael Hopkins and Partners to provide advice on design issues when major changes are under consideration and, when appropriate, to carry out design work. In this way the House will best be able to retain the design integrity of this landmark building while making any adaptations necessary to meet long-term needs.

Offices

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee if hon. Members and their staff are entitled to configure their offices in accordance with their personal preferences.

Derek Conway: Any requests for reconfiguration of offices are considered on their merits. As a general rule, rearrangement of the loose furniture or provision of additional furniture from the standard range would usually be carried out where this presented no risks to health and safety and was available at a sustainable cost. More fundamental work, such as alterations to the fitted furniture, location of doors or arrangement of services, where this would be solely to meet the preference of the current occupant, would not be carried out.
	If the right hon. and learned Member has any specific concerns, I would invite him to discuss them with the Serjeant at Arms.

Golden Jubilee

John Mann: To ask the President of the Council what plans there are for a parliamentary celebration of the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

Robin Cook: I am pleased to announce that, subject to approval by each House, it is proposed that Addresses be presented to Her Majesty on the morning of 30 April by both Houses of Parliament to celebrate her Golden Jubilee, in Westminster Hall. Further details will be announced in due course.

Mr. John Stonborough

David Winnick: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much Mr. John Stonborough will be paid.

Archy Kirkwood: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Mr. Stonborough is a contractor, not a salaried employee. The House does not publish commercially-sensitive contractual details.

Mr. John Stonborough

David Winnick: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what role Mr. John Stonborough will play in the press presentation of the next Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

Archy Kirkwood: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Mr. Stonborough is available to advise the House of Commons Commission on all aspects of its media relations, including the appointment of a Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. His advice is given in confidence.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Sport

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education about the encouragement of competitive sport in schools.

Richard Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with her counterpart at the Department for Education and Skills and numerous topics are discussed, including competitive sport in schools. The School Sport Co-ordinators network, in particular, will be working with schools and clubs on competition structures that will increase opportunities for children to engage in competitive sport.

Horserace Betting Levy Scheme

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement about the determination of the 41st horserace betting levy scheme.

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  whether it is her policy that the new funding scheme for the horse racing levy will be based on the sale of pictures and data to bookmakers;
	(2)  when a decision is expected on a new levy scheme for the horse racing industry.

Tessa Jowell: As the Horserace Betting Levy Board was unable to accept the Bookmakers' Committee's recommendations for the 41st levy scheme the matter, under statute, was referred to me to determine.
	In considering the next scheme I have taken into account submission from the Chairman and independent members of the Levy Board, the Bookmakers' Committee, and the British Horseracing Board. In the interests of fairness and openness, these bodies were also given the opportunity to comment on each others' submissions.
	I have also taken account of independent advice from Organisation Consulting Partnership on those submissions. A copy of their report is being placed in the Library and is being sent to those who provided submissions.
	The criteria which customarily apply to the setting of levy schemes include the needs of horseracing and the capacity of bookmakers to pay. I can confirm that I have sought to reflect these considerations in reaching a view about how much bookmakers should be required to contribute in order to enable the Levy Board to give effect to the improvement of horseracing and its other statutory purposes.
	The exercise of my responsibility to determine the 41st scheme has been made difficult by uncertainties currently facing the betting and racing industries. These include the effect of the introduction of a gross profits tax on betting, and the potential income for racing from its proposed sale of picture and data rights to bookmakers.
	As to the former, it is difficult to judge the extent to which changes in bookmakers' turnover on horseracing betting will be reflected in their gross profits on that business. Although all recent levy schemes have been based on turnover it appears to me that, in current circumstances, it is not necessarily the fairest or most reliable indication of bookmakers' ability to pay the levy.
	In all the circumstances, I am therefore minded to determine the 41st scheme on the basis of off-course bookmakers paying an average of 9 per cent. of their gross profits on horseracing betting. (As on-course bookmakers will not be directly affected by the tax changes I am minded to continue the flat fee arrangements of the 40th levy scheme). My officials will be working with the Levy Board so that the details of the scheme can be confirmed and promulgated in time for it to take effect from 1 April.
	As to the sale of picture and data rights, it must be a cause of considerable disappointment that a full measure of agreement on the commercial terms which should apply has not yet been reached. Against this background of uncertainty and outstanding legal disputes I do not feel able to accept the Bookmakers' Committee argument that the 41st scheme should require only a nominal contribution from bookmakers from 1 May 2002. I have, however, taken account of the commitment from the British Horseracing Board that any payments in respect of licences to use pictures or data which are purchased by that date will be offset against levy payments which the bookmakers concerned are liable to make thereafter.
	As a result of these uncertainties it is hard to forecast how much the 41st scheme, determined in this way, will yield; but, on the basis of forecasts previously provided by the betting industry, it would be in a range from £90 million to £105 million in 2002–03. A lower yield would reflect a lower level of profits. The scheme should enable both the betting and racing industries as well as punters themselves to share in the benefits flowing from the new tax regime; and enable the Levy Board to meet its own liabilities.
	We would like to encourage the betting and racing industries to develop a modern relationship as business partners and move away from an adversarial approach. The levy scheme which I am minded to determine will give them a shared interest in developing their businesses to their mutual benefit. It is, however, clear that the levy system as a whole is flawed, and should not be needed if satisfactory commercial agreements between the parties can be made to work. We remain committed to its abolition, when parliamentary time permits.
	East and Mexborough (Jeff Ennis).

Football

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she last met representatives of the Football Association to discuss progress with proposals for a new national stadium at Wembley; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State last met representatives of The Football Association on 13 December 2001. Since then and following her announcement to the House on 19 December 2001, Official Report, columns 291–93, DCMS officials have been working closely with The Football Association, WNSL and Sport England to monitor progress on the National Stadium project.

Golden Jubilee

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her answer of 21 January 2002, Official Report, column 624W, on the Golden Jubilee, what activities will take place during the Jubilee Weekend of 1–4 June.

Tessa Jowell: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 31 October 2001, Official Report, columns 758–59W. Further details will be announced as they become available.

Christian Broadcasting

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with representatives of Christian organisations on the subject of broadcasting.

Kim Howells: Ministers have had no recent meetings with representatives of Christian organisations.

Christian Broadcasting

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will 
	(1)  review broadcasting legislation to redefine access for Christian broadcasting stations;
	(2)  make a statement on what reasons there are for preventing the setting up of Christian radio and television stations.

Kim Howells: The regulators have licensed a number of Christian radio and television stations using their discretion under the Broadcasting Act 1990 to award local analogue, satellite and cable sound programme and cable and satellite television service licences to religious bodies. The Broadcasting Acts do not permit them to award licences for national analogue, national digital or local digital sound programme and terrestrial analogue and terrestrial digital television services.
	I am reviewing broadcasting legislation in the light of responses to the recent "Consultation on Media Ownership Rules" which announced that the Government will bring forward legislation to allow religious bodies to hold a local digital sound programme licence. The paper also invited views on whether the restrictions on ownership of other terrestrial licences by religious bodies should be relaxed, and we are currently considering the responses. The Government will publish details of its proposals in the draft Communications Bill which we expect to publish this spring.

DEFENCE

Project Falcon

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what budget cuts have been made to Project Falcon; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 January 2002, Official Report, column 825 to the hon. Member for New Forest, West (Mr. Swayne).

Project Falcon

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if down selection for the Falcon project will be made on the basis of the original specifications set out in November 2000; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what role the new study required by 4 February will play in the down selection for Falcon; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: There are no plans for the supplementary Falcon study to play a role in the current down selection process.
	The current work on Falcon is examining a possible reduction in the number of competing consortia prior to the assessment phase but competition will continue. The down selection is being conducted on the basis of the original capability requirement set out in November 2000.
	In keeping with the principles of Smart Acquisition, capability requirements may evolve to ensure that trade-offs between time, cost and performance are used to provide the best value for money and reflect user needs—final down selection to a single supplier will therefore take place against a requirement developed on this basis.

Project Falcon

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to ensure that capabilities of the Falcon system remain as specified in the operational requirements issued in November 2000.

Lewis Moonie: A key element of Smart Acquisition is an evolutionary requirements process that reflects the need to trade between time, cost and performance. Therefore, the Falcon capability requirement may evolve from that set out in November 2000, to ensure delivery of the most effective solution within cost and time constraints. We will, however, ensure that the competing consortiums are kept fully informed of the requirements against which their bids are being assessed.

Project Falcon

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what capacity for battlefield integrated system applications Falcon is specified to support; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: Project Falcon will provide an operational level communications infrastructure. As such, it will support the transfer of data generated from any Battlefield Information System Application being developed as part of the Land Digitisation process.

Project Falcon

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the specification for the Falcon system will retain the requirement to avoid a single point of failure.

Lewis Moonie: We have defined Falcon system failure in capability terms by stating a required service availability, so providing contractors with the freedom to deliver efficient and effective solutions within time and cost constraints.

Project Falcon

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the down selection for the Falcon project will be made.

Lewis Moonie: We are currently examining a possible reduction in the number of competing consortia prior to the assessment phase. This initial down selection process is due to report in February 2002. In accordance with the principles of Smart Acquisition, it is planned that subsequent down selection to a single supplier will take place following completion of the assessment phase.

Project Falcon

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what provision has been made to adapt AFV 432 vehicles to carry the Falcon system; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: There is no specific requirement for AFV 432s to carry the Falcon system. In the longer term, Falcon will be incorporated into armoured vehicles and this process will be aligned with plans to deliver new armoured fighting vehicles.

Project Falcon

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what encryption system has been specified as part of the Falcon project; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The Falcon project includes plans to develop a new generation encryption system to enable secure communication. The precise encryption system requirement has not yet been confirmed.

Project Falcon

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what provision is being made to integrate the Apache attack helicopter into the Falcon system; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: On current plans, the secure voice and data communications infrastructure provided by Falcon will include Apache attack helicopter ground support facilities.

Defence Estates

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to achieve the 10 per cent. improvement in the condition of defence estates.

Lewis Moonie: The Strategy for the Defence Estate "In Trust and on Trust" sets out a provisional goal to demonstrate improvements in estate condition of at least 10 per cent. by 2005.
	"The Stewardship Report on the Defence Estate 2001", which was published on 22 January, shows the baseline against which magnitudes of change year on year can be judged and reported. The report is available on the Ministry of Defence website www.mod.uk.

Animal Experiments

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many animal experiments were carried out at Porton Down in the last year for which figures are available.

Lewis Moonie: Dstl Porton Down submits annual returns to the Home Office detailing the number of procedures undertaken which involve the use of animals.
	In the year 2000 a total of 11,985 procedures were returned to the Home Office. The figures for 2001 are expected to be available late February 2002.

NIBAT 2 Accommodation (Dungannon)

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans exist to upgrade NIBAT 2 accommodation at Dungannon; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: A contract has been let for installation of a number of additional portable accommodation units at Killymeal House, Dungannon to augment the current accommodation and improve the quality of life for the soldiers of NIBAT 2 who are stationed there on a six month roulement tour. In addition, existing accommodation is currently being painted and some minor refurbishment work is being undertaken, again to improve the quality of life for those stationed at Dungannon.

A400M

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he had with the German Defence Minister on the subject of the A400M during the meeting in Ashfield on Friday 18 January.

Lewis Moonie: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence and the German Defence Minister, Herr Scharping, discussed a range of topics in a routine meeting held at East Midlands airport on Friday 18 January, including progress towards securing final Bundestag approval of the A400M programme. They both expressed the hope that this issue will be resolved quickly.

Common Missile Programme

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the Common Missile Programme Memorandum of Understanding.

Lewis Moonie: Yes.

Pensions

Lawrie Quinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give the latest estimate of the total cost of refunding tax to those retired Army personnel or their widows and widowers who are, or were, in receipt of a service invalidity pension.

Lewis Moonie: In my statement to the House of 23 January 2002, Official Report, columns 891–902, I estimated the total cost of refunding wrongly taxed Army pensioners at around £30 million. The latest Inland Revenue estimate is that, to date, it has refunded in the order of £6.5 million to eligible pensioners or their spouses. We believe that the majority of these pensioners or their spouses have already been identified but we recognise that there may be some beneficiaries eligible to claim where the pensioner is deceased. It is not easy to establish their number or the cost attached to such claims. Nonetheless, I would not expect the total to exceed £30 million, and based on the repayments that have been made to all of the cases that have been identified it is likely to be significantly less. Of those so far identified as having wrongly paid tax, only 14 have not yet had refunds.

Pensions

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the cost to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme of increases to future pension payments to bring them to the level which would have applied but for the pay restraint policy in the mid 1970s.

Adam Ingram: A number of previous Governments have operated pay restraint policies that have affected the pensions of all public servants retiring at the time. No estimate has been made of the costs of increases to future payments to remedy these effects or that specifically relating to the pay restraint policy in the mid-1970s. Periods of "trough" are not clearly defined and we therefore see major difficulties in costing any remedial measures. Nonetheless, for the information of veterans organisations, we are looking to see whether it would be practicable to give a broad estimate of the costs that might be involved for the major periods at issue. However, it has been the policy of successive Governments that retrospective action to redress such issues would not be appropriate and we do not plan to change this policy.

Armed Forces Pay Review Body

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the report and recommendations of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body.

Geoff Hoon: The 2002 Report of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body has been published today. Copies of the report are available in the Vote Office and the Library of the House. I wish to express my thanks to the Chairman and members of the Review Body for their clear and wide-ranging report.
	The AFPRB has recommended an increase in basic military salary of 3.7 per cent. for the majority of personnel and 4.2 per cent. for privates, lance corporals, captains and majors. The AFPRB has also recommended increases in the rates of additional pay (eg flying pay, submarine pay and diving pay) and in charges. The AFPRB has also recommended two Financial Retention Incentives to help address the issues identified by the Comprehensive Review of Aircrew Retention undertaken with HM Treasury and external consultants last year.
	The additional cost to the Defence budget will be £236 million. This will be met within existing departmental expenditure limits.
	The AFPRB's recommendations are to be accepted in full, with implementation effective from 1 April 2002.

Armed Forces Pay Review Body

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions the Armed Forces Pay Review Body has taken into account the non-pensionability of specialist pay when setting rates of specialist pay in each of the last five years.

Adam Ingram: As with all the areas covered by its remit, the Armed Forces Pay Review Body recommends the rate it believes appropriate in the light of all the evidence and its terms of reference.

Export Licences

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how the MOD Form 680 procedure functions; and how it relates to final licensing decisions;
	(2)  how many export licence applications were considered under the MOD Form 680 procedure in each of the past five years; and how many received a positive response;
	(3)  what proportion and how many of arms export licence applications approved by the Arms Working Party under the MOD Form 680 procedure were subsequently refused an export licence in each of the past five years.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 23 January 2002
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 14 January 2002, Official Report, column 57W to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner).

Export Licences

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment was given to sustainable development when the sale of the BAE Systems air-traffic control system to Tanzania was considered by the Arms Working Party under the MOD form 680 procedure.

Lewis Moonie: In July 1997, when the assessment took place, sustainable development was not a specific factor to be taken into account when considering F680 applications, although the impact on the economy of the recipient country was. Sustainable Development was included in the EU Code of Conduct on arms exports that came into effect in June 1998. However, as the F680 application for the Air Traffic Control System for Tanzania did not include cost information it would have been difficult to take any impact related specifically to the financing of the equipment into account.

Export Licences

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the sale of the BAE Systems air-traffic control system to Tanzania was first raised with the Arms Working Party under the MOD Form 680 procedure.

Lewis Moonie: Siemens Plessey Electronic systems (now part of Alenia Marconi Systems) first submitted an F680 application relating to the supply of radar equipment to Tanzania in February 1993. A further application was submitted in July 1997, following a change to the specification of the original requirement.

Export Licences

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the date was of the first involvement of the Department for International Development in considerations of the Tanzanian air traffic control system.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 23 January 2002
	The then Overseas Development Agency first heard of the proposal to sell air traffic control equipment to Tanzania in 1992. The Department for International Development (DFID) was first aware of an export licence application for the Tanzanian air traffic control system in 1997.

Export Licences

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment was made by the Arms Working Party under the MOD Form 680 procedure of the adequacy of the Tanzanian air traffic control system for civilian purposes; and what the conclusions were.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 23 January 2002
	I am withholding this information under Exemptions 2 and 13 (Internal discussion and advice; and third party commercial confidences respectively) of Part II of the Government's Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Export Licences

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the characteristics were of the Tanzanian air traffic control system that meant it should be considered by the Arms Working Party under the MOD Form 680 procedure.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 23 January 2002
	The F680 process is an informal process under which companies can obtain advice on the prospects for the approval of exports at the marketing stage. Any goods that are subject to Strategic Export Controls are eligible for consideration under this procedure.

Afghanistan

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the need for additional warm weather clothing and footwear for soldiers deployed in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: After monitoring the climatic conditions in Afghanistan we issued a cold weather-clothing supplement to all troops deploying with the International Security Assistance Force. This supplement to Soldier 95 includes warmer and windproof clothing as well as boots more suitable for colder weather.
	As with all operations, we will continue monitoring the climatic conditions and make the necessary changes to the equipment issued.

Afghanistan

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the safety of the first contingent of Royal Marines to be flown in to Bagram in Afghanistan in November 2001 while they were being deployed.

Geoff Hoon: My overriding concern is for the safety of British forces deployed in any theatre of operations. Although conditions on the ground at the time were fluid, I was satisfied that the deployment could proceed at manageable risk. The deployment entirely fulfilled its objectives.

Type 45 Destroyers

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if a decision has been made on which of the companies downselected for the supply of the medium frequency sonar for the Type 45 destroyers will be chosen; on what basis the decision is made; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: BAE Systems Electronics, the Type 45 Prime Contract Office (PCO) announced on 18 January 2002 that Ultra had been selected as the preferred supplier for the Medium Frequency Sonar (MFS) for the Type 45 Destroyer. Ultra are teaming with the US sonar and combat system specialist EDO Corporation to supply the MFS-7000, a development of the proven sonar system supplied to the Brazilian Navy.
	The tenders were of high quality and the Ultra bid was selected on the grounds of performance and programme risk.

Arms Sales (India)

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role he is playing in the promotion of arms sales to India; and what assessment he has made of the impact of sales on the (a) dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and (b) stability in that region.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 25 January 2002
	In accordance with the need to maintain a strong defence industry, which is a vital part of our strategic defence capability, it is Government policy to help promote legitimate UK defence exports in co-ordination with industry.
	Assessment such as my hon. Friend describes are performed across Government as part of the case by case consideration given to export licence applications against the consolidated national and EU arms export licensing criteria.

MOD Guard Service

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made on the PPP to replace the MOD Guard Service.

Lewis Moonie: None. There is no general public-private partnership initiative to replace the Ministry of Defence Guard Service.

War Pensions

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what recent changes have been made to the statutory criteria to facilitate and determine the level and payment of war pensions;
	(2)  on what date the present statutory criteria were issued to facilitate and determine the level of payment of war pensions.

Lewis Moonie: The first War Pension Scheme was established in 1917. The scheme has undergone many changes, the latest being the introduction of extended appeal rights under section 57 of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000.

Gulf War

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what status Iraqi prisoners who were captured during the Gulf war had.

Adam Ingram: Iraqi combatants taken prisoner during the Gulf war were classified as prisoners of war in accordance with the 3rd Geneva Convention 1949.

European Technology Acquisition Programme

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the European Technology Acquisition Programme Memorandum of Understanding.

Lewis Moonie: Yes.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Director of Public Prosecutions

Roy Beggs: To ask the Solicitor-General what was the average time taken by the Director of Public Prosecutions to make a decision in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months; and when the Director of Public Prosecutions will issue his direction in respect of ref 875/01.

Harriet Harman: Information maintained by the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland indicates that the average time taken between the receipt of a police investigation file and the issue of a direction as to prosecution is 38 days.
	The director has sought the independent advice of senior counsel in relation to ref. 875/01 which he anticipates he will receive in February 2002. Thereafter, decisions as to prosecution will be taken as soon as possible.

NORTHERN IRELAND

David McCombe and Padraig McCracken

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland further to his answer of 30 January 2001, Official Report, column 135W, on David McCombe and Padraig McCracken, what the outcome was of complaints filed against the RUC concerning the arrest of David McCombe and Padraig McCracken in Belfast in December 2000; and if he will ensure that an assessment of the handling of this incident is included in the UK Periodic report under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Jane Kennedy: The Police Ombudsman's Office advises that the investigation of a complaint lodged on behalf of David McCombe and Padraig McCracken against the police has been completed. Following referral of the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who has directed no prosecution, the Police Ombudsman is now considering whether or not disciplinary proceedings should be brought.
	The UK Periodic report under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a general report where references to specific cases would not normally be made. Therefore it would be inappropriate to include an assessment of the handling of this case in the report.

Departmental Expenditure (Publications)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his estimate is of the expenditure of his Department on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in each of the last four years.

John Reid: Details of the Department's (including its agencies) expenditure (£000) on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in each of the last four years are as follows:
	
		
			 Year £000 
		
		
			 1998–99 67.3 
			 1999–2000 60.6 
			 2000–01 56.6 
			 2001–02(13) 53 
			 2001–02(14) (15)70.6 
		
	
	(13) To date
	(14) Full year
	(15) Estimate

RUC Training

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the numbers were and what the drop out rate was during RUC training programmes conducted in (a) 1982, (b) 1992 and (c) 1997.

Jane Kennedy: The table shows the number of recruits and drop out rate for each of the specified years:
	
		
			  Recruits Dropped out Percentage drop out 
		
		
			 1982 555 4 0.72 
			 1992 420 2 0.48 
			 1997 287 3 1.05

Environmental Appraisals

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officials from his Department have attended the Environmental Appraisal and Integration into Policy training course run by the Civil Service College.

John Reid: To date, no officials from the Northern Ireland Office have attended the Environmental Appraisal and Integration into Policy training course run by the Civil Service College.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Nepal

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the components are of the planned short-term increase in development aid for Nepal; what proportion is (a) military, (b) policing and (c) intelligence-related; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: There is no short-term increase in UK development assistance to Nepal. The aid framework for 2001–02 is £20 million and DFID Nepal expects to spend all of this on development activities, including a number of short-term initiatives to deliver development benefits to people in conflict affected areas.
	DFID Nepal has worked to assist the Nepal police to develop into a more open and accountable service, and we are discussing the possibility of continuing support for reforms and modernisation. We have not of course used development assistance to fund any military or intelligence-related activities. The UK has provided training and logistics support to the Royal Nepal Army through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool, which is jointly funded by MOD, FCO, HMT and DFID.

Zimbabwe

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when her Department stopped providing funds directly to the Government of Zimbabwe.

Clare Short: Our direct co-operation with the Government of Zimbabwe reduced substantially in 2000. In April 2001 I halted our remaining Government to Government programmes. One programme of capacity building for rural district councils was allowed to run until its planned end date of September 2001. We continue to support a Government initiative to promote the inheritance rights of poor women, but money for this does not go through the Government. We support activities where the principal partner is not central Government, but which operate within Government systems where they are the only means of providing direct services to the poor, and where we are satisfied that they remain effective and impartial. These include the national HIV/AIDS prevention programme where our support is partially channelled through the public health system, and funding to complete long-standing commitments to rural water and sanitation projects through local government.

Private Finance Initiative

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the total external spend by her Department was on private finance initiative consultants in each of the last four years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PFI consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by her Department over this period; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: DFID has no private finance initiative projects and we have not engaged external PFI consultants.

TREASURY

Euro

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 437W, if he will list the Treasury management units which are involved in the preliminary technical work for evaluating the five economic tests for membership of the euro; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: A wide range of officials from several Treasury management units is contributing.

Spectacles

Peter Duncan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to review the partial exemption from VAT of prescription spectacles; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Boateng: Customs and Excise are to hold discussions with the optical industry about the implications of the recent legal rulings about the exemption from VAT of opticians' dispensing services provided at the same time as spectacles or contact lenses.

Eurozone

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 439W, on eurozone, if he will list the interest rate forecasts prepared by the Treasury which are not for publication; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury makes interest rate assumptions for the UK and an aggregate for the G7 for the purposes of constructing the pre-Budget and Budget forecasts. In line with the practice of previous Governments, we do not publish the interest rate paths underlying the economic forecasts.

Adjudication Officer

Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the full remit for the Adjudication Officer.

Dawn Primarolo: The remit of the Adjudicator for the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise is shown in detail in the booklets AO1 for the Inland Revenue and AO2 for Customs and Excise. Those booklets show what the adjudicator can and cannot do, copies of which are available from the Adjudicator's Office and most Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise offices; and is also set out in the joint Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise Service Level Agreement with the Adjudicator's Office. Under the agreement the adjudicator provides an independent adjudication service into unresolved complaints about the way in which Inland Revenue or Customs and Excise have handled a person's tax etc. affairs but excludes matters arising out of a commercial or employment contract, or matters relating to their tax liability, valuation affairs, national insurance contributions or any issue to be determined by any court or tribunal.

ECOFIN Council

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the ECOFIN Council held in Brussels on 22 January; what the Government's position was on each issue discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: I attended the ECOFIN on 22 January.
	The incoming Spanish presidency and the Commission introduced their work programmes. In the ensuing debate, I stressed the need for the EU to pursue vigorous structural reforms in product, labour and capital markets to stimulate growth and create jobs.
	ECOFIN adopted Opinions on the Stability and Convergence Programmes of Austria, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden.
	Ministers endorsed the Economic Policy Committee's report on Research and Development, and agreed that it should be sent to the March European Council in Barcelona. The Government support the report's proposals for boosting innovation in the EU.
	The European Commission gave an oral update on the transition to euro notes and coins. ECOFIN welcomed the smooth progress achieved so far.
	Ministers discussed the state of ratification of the Own Resources Decision. This was due to take effect from 1 January 2002, but has still to be ratified by some member states. The UK completed the process of ratification on 4 December 2001.
	The European Commission gave an oral update on negotiations with third countries regarding the draft directive on the taxation savings. ECOFIN agreed a statement on Argentina, in response to the economic crisis there.
	No votes were taken at the meeting.

Minimum Wage

Tom Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employers in Glasgow, Cathcart constituency his Department identified in 2001 as paying less than the national minimum wage to their employees.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Tom Harris, dated 29 January 2002
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about the number of employers in Glasgow, Cathcart constituency who pay their employees less than the national minimum wage (NMW). (31213)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not collect information on the number of employers who pay their employees less than NMW rates. However, estimates of the number of jobs paid less than NMW rates are available for the United Kingdom and Government Office Regions on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/themes/labour_market/pay_and_earnings/ measuring_low_pay.asp
	Estimates for Parliamentary Constituencies are not available.

Births, Marriages and Deaths

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what proportion of records of births, marriages and deaths held by the General Record Office have been micro-filmed;
	(2)  when he plans to make micro-filmed copies of births, marriages and deaths held by the General Records Office available to the public;
	(3)  what charges he will make for public access to micro-filmed records of births, marriages and deaths held by the General Records Office.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Registrar-General. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Dr. Murrison, dated 29 January 2002
	As Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent questions on microfilmed records of births, marriages and deaths. (31474, 31475, 31476)
	The General Register Officer holds paper copies of all records of births, deaths and marriages registered in England and Wales from 1837 to September 2001. Those for the remainder of 2001 are expected from registrars very shortly. All records up to and including those for 2000 have been microfilmed. Microfilming of birth and death records for 2001 is underway. However, an index is essential to find the appropriate record. Computerised indexes are only available for records dating from 1983.
	On 22 January, the Government published the White Paper — 'Civil Registration: Vital Change'. It includes proposals on access to registration records and their computerisation.
	Legislation is needed to implement these changes and will take at least two years. Phased implementation will follow. Charging arrangements will be determined as part of implementation.

Pension Tax Codes

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 15 January 2002, Official Report, column 224W, on pension tax codes, whether the rate of increase in the basic state pension supplied by the DWP is applied to all state pension income for tax code purposes; and if this will result in an amount in excess of people's actual state pension income being included in tax codes in years where the basic state pension is indexed by more than any additional state pension in payment.

Dawn Primarolo: Most pensioner tax codes are adjusted individually according to information provided by DWP about the taxpayer's state pension entitlement. In a minority of cases where information on a pensioner's state pension has not been provided by DWP, the estimated amount of state pension already included in the tax code is increased by reference to the appropriate percentage increase in state pensions as announced in the pre-Budget report.
	This estimate may be incorrect where an individual receives an additional state pension. However as soon as the pensioner or the DWP bring the correct pension to the Revenue's attention their tax code will be altered and from that point on the pensioner will be included in the DWP's yearly update.

Insurance Premium Tax

David Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was of collecting and administering insurance premium tax in 2000–01.

Ruth Kelly: The cost to HM Customs and Excise in collecting and administering insurance premium tax in 2000–01 was £2 million in net current expenditure.

Insurance Premium Tax

David Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of insurance premium tax on the ability of British insurance companies to compete against foreign insurance suppliers for British customers.

Ruth Kelly: Insurance premium tax applies equally to general insurance of risks in the UK, regardless of the location of the insurer.

Foot and Mouth

Brian Cotter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses have been allowed to defer their taxation payments to the Inland Revenue as a result of the foot and mouth crisis; what the total value is of these deferred payments; how many businesses have since been required to recommence payments on deferred taxes; and what the total value of payments is that have been received on these deferred taxes.

Dawn Primarolo: In the cumulative period 21 March 2001 to 20 January 2002 the Inland Revenue has helped 14,517 businesses by agreeing to defer £118.60 million tax and National Insurance contributions for mainly between three and 12 months. No businesses seriously affected by the FMD outbreak have been required to recommence payments of deferred tax and we do not have full details of payments received on deferred taxes. However, a sample review of these cases in December 2001 revealed that as much as £49.81 million had been paid voluntarily.

Bankruptcy Petitions

Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the Inland Revenue's policy with regard to the use of (a) the London High Court and (b) local county courts to file bankruptcy petitions.

Dawn Primarolo: Where the Inland Revenue has to take bankruptcy proceedings to obtain payment of a tax debt, the proceedings are heard in the High Court in London.

Empty Properties

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the (a) annual cost and (b) total value of the empty properties owned by (i) his Department, (ii) his agencies and (iii) other public bodies for which he has had responsibility in each of the last four years.

Ruth Kelly: The annual cost of the empty properties owned by the Chancellor's Department and the agencies in 2000–01 is estimated as £2,047,327. The total number of empty properties in this year was 30, but of these eight were disposed of in the year.
	The total open market value attributable to vacant properties in 2000–01 was £15.311 million.
	Data for the previous three years can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

PAYE

Edward Davey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people the Inland Revenue employed in (a) PAYE coding administration, (b) all other remaining aspects of PAYE administration, (c) all other taxation matters not covered in (a) and (b) above and (d) all other tasks not covered in (a) to (c) above in (i) 1979–80, (ii) 1996–97, (iii) 1999–2000 and (iv) 2000–01.

Dawn Primarolo: The total numbers of staff employed in the Inland Revenue on administering PAYE and on other tasks is included in the table.
	
		
			  1999–2000 2000–01 
		
		
			 PAYE 16,434 17,854 
			 Other taxation 40,900 43,362 
			 Other tasks 6,558 5,704 
			  
			 Total 63,892 66,920 
		
	
	The Inland Revenue is unable to provide detailed staff figures for the years 1979–80 and 1996–97 as records were not kept in the manner required and it would therefore involve disproportionate cost to provide this information.

PAYE

Edward Davey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total cost of administering the PAYE system of income tax in (a) 1980, (b) 1990, (c) 2000 and (d) 2000–01 at (i) current and (ii) historic prices.

Dawn Primarolo: The total cost to the Inland Revenue of administering the PAYE system of Income Tax in 2000–01 was £534.4 million. In 1999–2000 the cost was £485 million. This represents £498.6 million in current prices.
	It has not been possible to provide the requested data for the years 1980 and 1990. This is because the Inland Revenue did not record PAYE work separately during this period.

Departmental Expenditure (Publications)

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the expenditure of his Department on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in each of the last four years.

Ruth Kelly: The answer is as follows:
	1997–98 total expenditure: £271,031
	1998–99 total expenditure: £259,112.
	Since 1999 expenditure on newspapers, magazines and periodicals has not been held centrally. Such information could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.

Tax Receipts

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average income tax and national insurance paid per tax unit was in each of the last four years.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates for income taxpayers and income tax liabilities can be found in Inland Revenue Statistics tables 2.1 and 3.3. The latest versions can be found on the Inland Revenue website http:// www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk.stats/income_tax/it_t01–1.htm http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/ pi_t03_1.htm. The average national insurance contributions per contributor are in the table:
	
		£ 
		
			  Average national insurance liabilities per contributor(16) 
		
		
			 1997–98 1,000 
			 1998–99 1,000 
			 1999–2000 1,000 
			 2000–01 1,100 
		
	
	(16) Estimates are net of contracted out rebates and exclude employer contributions.
	Amounts (provided by the Government Actuary's Department) have been rounded to the nearest £50.

Benefit Fraud

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the regional breakdown was of the investigations carried out in respect of WFTC and DPTC in each year since the credits commenced.

Dawn Primarolo: The table shows the number of investigations carried out by the Inland Revenue on working families tax credit and disabled person's tax credit applications for the periods listed. This information is logged by postcode, and so any applications where a postcode has not been supplied have been listed 'region not identified'.
	
		
			 Government Office Region WFTC investigations  DPTC investigations 
		
		
			  Period 1 (1 October 1999 to 31 March 2000) 
			 North East 866 22 
			 North West 1,512 35 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 1,739 28 
			 East Midlands 1,159 22 
			 West Midlands 1,140 32 
			 East of England 948 14 
			 London 1,046 10 
			 South East 1,222 19 
			 South West 1,254 21 
			 Wales 608 21 
			 Scotland 1176 23 
			 Region not identified 617 3 
			  
			 Total 13,287 250 
			
			  Period 2 (1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001) 
			 North East 1,906 50 
			 North West 3,678 138 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 3,093 80 
			 East Midlands 1,535 46 
			 West Midlands 2,636 94 
			 East of England 1,336 65 
			 London 1,421 47 
			 South East 1,857 49 
			 South West 1,962 54 
			 Wales 1,619 89 
			 Scotland 2,020 67 
			 Region not identified 2,166 20 
			  
			 Total 25,229 799 
			
			  Period 3 (1 April 2001 to 30 November 2001) 
			 North East 937 48 
			 North West 1,786 111 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 1,310 51 
			 East Midlands 881 35 
			 West Midlands 1,367 71 
			 East of England 851 37 
			 London 824 32 
			 South East 911 47 
			 South West 886 63 
			 Wales 769 52 
			 Scotland 942 58 
			 Region not identified 402 14 
			  
			 Total 11,866 619

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Standard Spending Assessment

Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to reduce the variation of education standard spending assessment per pupil between local education authorities.

Stephen Timms: We are currently working up proposals for a reformed system of school and LEA funding for introduction in 2003–04. We aim to create a simpler, more transparent and fairer formula that reflects fairly, on the basis of up to date evidence, the needs of authorities in different parts of the country. We do not want there to be disparities in the formula which are not justified by the education needs of children.
	In the meantime we are continuing to make significant increases in funding overall. In 2002–03 Education Standard Spending will increase by over £1.3 billion; Standards Fund grant will increase by almost £160 million: and direct grants to schools will increase by 2.75 per cent.

School Land Sales

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the Government's policy regarding the selling of school-owned land for development purposes.

John Healey: holding answer 22 January 2002
	Land at maintained schools is owned and held by a number of different bodies depending on the origins and category of school in question. Normally, only the governing bodies of foundation schools own their school land. At voluntary schools, the site ownership is usually split between school trustees and the local education authority, although at voluntary schools that were formerly grant-maintained, governing bodies will own the land transferred to them from the local authority. Local education authorities own land at community schools. It is also the case that some governing bodies may own land that is gifted to the school, but such land is usually held on specific trusts.
	Governing bodies of foundation schools have always needed the Secretary of State's consent before they could dispose of any land. At any other category of maintained school where governing bodies own land they may be required to obtain consent from the Secretary of State before they sell their land. In other cases the sale of land will be subject to the terms of the trust on which the land is held. The sale of trustee owned land at schools has always been governed by the terms of the trust under which the land is held.

Empty Properties

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the (a) annual cost and (b) total value of the empty properties owned by (i) her Department, (ii) her agencies and (iii) other public bodies for which she has had responsibility in each of the last four years.

Ivan Lewis: The estimate of (a) annual cost of the empty properties owned by (i) my Department, in each of the last four years is £304,000 in 2000–01, £270,000 in 1999–2000, £173,000 in 1998–99 and £180,000 in 1997–98.
	The estimate of (b) total value of the empty properties owned by (i) my Department, in each of the last four years is £290,000 in 2000–01, £146,000 in 1999–2000, £133,000 in 1998–99 and £125,000 in 1997–98.
	Note:
	The Department's agencies and other public bodies do not own any empty properties.

Bidwell Brook Community Special School

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the level of funding for the Bidwell Brook Community Special School in Dartington from the targeted capital fund in 2002–03; and for what reason funding was not made available in this financial year.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Up to the end of this financial year, where statutory proposals at special schools have involved building work, local education authorities have been able to apply to the Department for capital support through the Annual Capital Guidelines. Resources are held in reserve for later allocation and released as and when the local School Organisation Committee approves the proposals and the accommodation and building plans, including costs, have received a satisfactory assessment from the Department's building consultants.
	In the case of Bidwell Brook, although the School Organisation Committee had approved the statutory proposal, substantial changes have had to be made to the building plans. These revised plans are currently with the Consultants for assessment. The resources in the reserve have now been fully allocated. The local education authority has accordingly submitted a bid to the Targeted Capital Fund for 2002–03. We expect to announce allocations by March 2002.

Teachers (Portsmouth)

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of teacher shortages in Portsmouth; what steps she is taking to improve the situation; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: Information on the number of teacher vacancies in local education authorities is collected once a year in January as part of the annual census of teachers and vacancies. In January 2001 there were 59 vacancies for full-time teachers in maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special schools in Portsmouth. In recognition of the position in Portsmouth we have made £280,000 available directly to schools to fund local recruitment and retention initiatives. In addition, Portsmouth will also receive assistance through the £250 million Starter Homes Initiative which will enable teachers, as key workers, to purchase homes with the help of £10,000 free equity loans. We have also announced our proposal to accept the School Teachers' Review Body's recently announced recommendations, including a further above inflation pay increase of 3.5 per cent. for all teachers and that good, experienced, teachers should in future be able to receive a £2,148 pay increase on crossing the threshold after five years instead of seven. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State set out our longer term proposals for teachers and teaching in a pamphlet, "Professionalism and Trust", published in November 2001.

Fast Track Teaching Scheme

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications there were from (a) teachers already in service and (b) others for the Fast Track teaching scheme by 31 December 2001 broken down by subject.

Stephen Timms: Applications to the second recruitment round of the Fast Track Teaching Programme were as follows.
	
		
			 Subject Number of applications 
		
		
			 Primary 217 
			 Secondary  
			 Geography 36 
			 Art 13 
			 Science 149 
			 Business and Economics 18 
			 Design and Technology 19 
			 English 118 
			 Modern Foreign Languages 63 
			 History 86 
			 IT 30 
			 Maths 79 
			 Music 11 
			 PE 4 
			 RE 10 
			 Unspecified 53 
			  
			 Total 906 
		
	
	Where applications arrived after the closing date of 31 December 2001, but had been delayed for reasons beyond the applicants' control, they were accepted up to 7 January 2002. Processing of applications from teachers already in service had not begun by 31 December 2001.

Specialist Schools

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what grants have been made from the Technology Colleges Trust in each of the last four years to contribute towards the £50,000 of sponsorship money needed by schools seeking specialist status, broken down by (a) year, (b) school and (c) amount; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave previously, 24 January 2002, Official Report, column 1016W. More detailed information cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.

Maintained Schools

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average cost is of a place in a maintained school for a secondary pupil between the ages of 11 and 16 years, including (a) the average spending per pupil needed to provide, maintain and equip school buildings and (b) the average administration cost per pupil, specifying the elements of capital spending and administrative costs that have been included in that figure.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 25 January 2002
	The information is not available in the exact form in which it has been requested, but the average level of total recurrent funding per secondary pupil is almost £3,700 in 2001–02 and the average level of capital funding per pupil (excluding PFI credits) is £230 per pupil.

Parent Survey Forms

Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many parent survey forms were issued by Ofsted; what the average response rate was, and what the total cost was in the last year for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: Parents' views are an important part of the evidence base for an inspection. To ensure that parents have an opportunity to express those views, a parents' meeting must be arranged by the school prior to an inspection. In addition, schools are invited to distribute the parents' survey form. The decision to do so is entirely a matter for the school and any costs associated with the survey are borne by the school. An analysis of the data held by Ofsted is currently being undertaken. Once complete the results will be made available to the House through the Library.

Examination Boards

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many complaints she has received about the performance of the EdExcel examination board (a) each month between June 2001 and 18 January 2002 and (b) since 18 January 2002.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 28 January 2002
	The number of complaints which the Secretary of State received about the performance of the EdExcel examination board (a) during each month between June 2001 and 18 January 2002 and (b) since 18 January 2002 is set out in the table:
	
		
			  Number of complaints 
		
		
			 June 2000 1 
			 July 2001 1 
			 August 2001 0 
			 September 2001 3 
			 October 2001 4 
			 November 2001 1 
			 December 2001 1 
			 1–18 January 2002 1 
			 18–24 January 2002 12

Teachers' Salaries

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills by how much the take home pay of a teacher with five years experience will increase after the rise of 3.5 per cent. in salary and London weighting.

Stephen Timms: A teacher in inner London with five years's experience would normally be paid on point six of the teacher's main scale, which will be worth £24,729 per annum on 1 April 2002. This represents an increase of £867 per annum over 1 April 2001. On 1 September such a teacher will assimilate to point M5 of the new main pay scale, and will earn £26,973 per annum. Take-home pay is subject to an individual's tax position.

Assaults on Staff

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school staff were assaulted on local education authority property in each of the London local education authorities in each of the last five years.

Stephen Timms: The Department does not collect this information from local education authorities.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

India-Pakistan Border

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the number of anti-personnel mines on the India-Pakistan border.

Ben Bradshaw: We are concerned by reports that both India and Pakistan are laying anti-personnel land mines (APLs) along the international border, and will continue to monitor the situation closely. We urge India and Pakistan to cease the deployment of land mines, to clear existing mines and to sign the Ottawa Convention. We continue to press for India and Pakistan to resolve the issues between them through dialogue.
	The British Government are completely opposed to the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of APLs. We ratified the Ottawa Convention in July 1998 banning APLs, and announced a complete ban on their use by British forces.

Genocide

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made through the ICC on agreeing an international definition of genocide.

Denis MacShane: The crime of genocide is defined in Article II of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This definition is repeated as Article 6 of the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Rome Statute will come into force once 60 states have ratified or acceded to it; 48 States have done so to date including the United Kingdom.

Gibraltar

Terry Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the Government of Gibraltar regarding the appointment of the Head of Police in Gibraltar.

Peter Hain: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Under the provisions of the 1969 Gibraltar constitution the Governor is responsible for the internal security of Gibraltar, including the Royal Gibraltar police. The Governor appointed the current Commissioner of the Royal Gibraltar police on 1 November 2001.

Gibraltar

Terry Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence the Government have collated regarding Spanish allegations on the level of smuggling out of Gibraltar; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: holding answer 26 January 2002
	We have asked the Spanish Government to make available to us evidence that they have of smuggling. We will investigate such evidence.

Gibraltar

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will secure the support of the Government of Gibraltar for an agreement between Spain and Britain on the future status of Gibraltar before seeking the support of the people of Gibraltar through a referendum.

Peter Hain: holding answer 25 January 2002
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth (Mr. Jenkins) on 21 November, Official Report, column 331W. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs stated in the House on 14 January we have invited the people of Gibraltar, represented by the Government of Gibraltar, to take part in the talks under the Brussels Process. The Foreign Secretary and I discussed this further when we saw the Chief Minister of Gibraltar in London on Friday 25 January.

Gibraltar

Bob Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if a referendum in Gibraltar on the future sovereignty of the territory will be held before the resumption of talks with Spain under the terms of the Brussels Process.

Peter Hain: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Mr. MacKinlay) on 12 December 2001, Official Report, column 853W.

Gibraltar

Bob Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with which organisations he has discussed (a) the replacement of the Governor of Gibraltar and (b) an extension to the present Governor of Gibraltar's period in office.

Peter Hain: None. Her Majesty the Queen appoints Governors to all Her overseas territories.

UN Subscriptions

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) of 16 October 2001, Official Report, column 1149W, whether the sum referred to in his statement has been released to the United Nations; and what proportion this represents of the total moneys due.

Denis MacShane: United States Congress authorised payment of arrears to the United Nations in three tranches. Tranche I was paid in 1999. Of the tranche II total of $582 million, a $465 million cash payment was made by the United States to the United Nations in November last year. The remainder is being offset in the form of reimbursements owed to the US by the United Nations. We expect tranche III to be paid some time this year.
	Tranche II represents approximately 60 per cent. of the moneys due to the United Nations in the three-tranche package.

Departmental Expenditure (Publications)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his estimate is of the expenditure of his Department on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in each of the last four years.

Denis MacShane: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1997–98 489,895 
			 1998–99 586,510 
			 1999–2000 566,067 
			 2001–01 588,078

Market Research

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what expenditure has been incurred by his (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if he will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each.

Denis MacShane: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has conducted little opinion polling and market research in the United Kingdom. No focus groups were used. In the last four years total expenditure was:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1998–99 0 
			 1999–2000 0 
			 2000–01 15,550 
			 2001–02 39,913 
		
	
	The figures cover market research for the "Know Before You Go" consular awareness campaign, and an opinion poll of public knowledge and understanding of the European Union. The results of the latter polling were laid in the Libraries of the House of Commons on 5 December 2001.
	Overseas, various embassies have commissioned surveys about attitudes towards the United Kingdom to underpin strategies aimed at increasing positive foreign perceptions of Britain.
	The FCO's non-departmental public body, the British Council also undertook an overseas research project to explore how well-informed young professionals perceive the United Kingdom. The survey was entitled "Through Other Eyes". Countries were researched in 1999 and 2000.
	In the United Kingdom, the British Council has made use of focus groups and market research: (i) to assist in the understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of UK education compared to that in the United States and Australia, (ii) to evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives to increase the number of international students studying in the UK, and (iii) to assess perceptions of the British Council in Scotland post-devolution.
	The cost of this research and activity was:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1998–99 0 
			 1999–2000 (17)36,000 
			 2000–01 15,275 
			 2001–02 2,878 
		
	
	(17) Estimate

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Greenhouse Gases

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by what factor each of the other greenhouse gases is more damaging than carbon dioxide.

Margaret Beckett: The Global Warming Potential (GWP) for each greenhouse gas measures its effectiveness at global warming over the next 100 years compared to CO 2 . For example, an emission of 1 tonne of methane (CH 4 ) will have a warming effect over the next 100 years that is 21 times greater than the warming produced over that time scale by an emission of 1 tonne of CO 2 .
	The following table shows the UK emissions of the greenhouse gases in 1999 (latest complete annual figures), the GWP of each of the gases and the amount of CO 2 that would produce the same warming.
	
		
			 Direct greenhouse gases Emissions in 1999 (kT) GWP (100 years) Equivalent kT of CO2 
		
		
			 CO 2  (carbon dioxide) 547,800 1 547,800 
			 CH 4  (methane) 2632 21 55,266 
			 N 2  0  (nitrous oxide) 138 310 42,890 
			 HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) 2.749 560–12100 6,206 
			 PFCs (perfluorocarbons) 0.098 6000–7400 678 
			 SF 6  (sulphur hexafluoride) 0.055 23900 1,314

Flood Defence

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to publish proposals for change to flood defence funding and related administrative arrangements.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 16 January 2002
	This Department is finalising a public consultation document about future funding of flood defence and related institutional and administrative arrangements with a view to issuing it as soon as possible.

Parliamentary Questions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many answers to parliamentary questions have not been answered by her Department under exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information in each year since 1994.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 22 January 2002
	As the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was created on 8 June 2001, the information requested is not available.

Circuses

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will review the regulations governing the use of animals in circuses; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: A review of the legislation which might apply to animals kept by man for enjoyment, sport, companionship or farming purposes is taking place. The regulations relating to circus animals are included in the review. Further details of the review can be found on the DEFRA website www.defra.gov.uk.

Correspondence

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will reply to the letters of 28 September and 31 October from the hon. Member for Buckingham on behalf of his constituent, Mr. David Body.

Elliot Morley: A response to the hon. Member's letters of 28 September and 31 October were sent on 20 November 2001 and 14 January 2002 respectively.

Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the hon. Member for West Chelmsford will be given a reply to his letter of 12 June 2001 to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which was transferred to her Department on 18 June, concerning Dr. Reza Hussain of St. John's hospital, Chelmsford.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 15 January 2002
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 23 January 2002, Official Report, column 928W.

Private Finance Initiative

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total external spend by his Department was on Private Finance Initiative consultants in each of the last four years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PFI consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by his Department over this period; and if he will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Department has been in existence only since June 2001. Information covering earlier periods is therefore not available, and could be constructed retrospectively only at disproportionate cost.

Empty Properties

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the (a) annual cost and (b) total value of the empty properties owned by (i) her Department, (ii) her agencies and (iii) other public bodies for which she has had responsibility in each of the last four years.

Elliot Morley: The information requested is set out in the tables. As the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was created on 8 June 2001, this relates to the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The Department does not hold centrally information about properties occupied by non-departmental public bodies.
	Under Treasury guidelines, Departments have up to three years or more to dispose of surplus properties to ensure that the best possible price is obtained. The values of some empty properties will, therefore, be included in more than one of the total annual values shown.
	
		Estimated annual cost(18) of empty core DEFRA properties
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2000–01 1.47 
			 1999–2000 0.88 
			 1998–99 3.26 
			 1997–98 2.26 
		
	
	(18) Includes rent or capital charge, service charges and rates, plus estimated maintenance, facilities management, and marketing costs based on average property values.
	
		Estimated total value(19) of empty core DEFRA properties
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2000–01 10.6 
			 1999–2000 9.8 
			 1998–99 12.5 
			 1997–98 16.0 
		
	
	(19) Based on Valuation Office Agency capital valuation or actual sale price
	
		Estimated annual cost(20) of empty DEFRA executive agency properties
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2000–01 0.15 
			 1999–2000 0.21 
			 1998–99 0.25 
			 1997–98 0.00 
		
	
	(20) Includes rent or capital charge, service charges and rates, plus estimated maintenance, facilities management, and marketing costs based on average property values.
	
		Estimated total value(21) of empty DEFRA executive agency properties
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2000–01 2.00 
			 1999–2000 13.4 
			 1998–99 1.45 
			 1997–98 1.45 
		
	
	(21) Based on Valuation Office Agency capital valuation or actual sale price

Genotype Test Errors

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the extent of genotype test errors by laboratories undertaking work for her Department in December 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 24 January 2002
	We announced on 14 December that DEFRA's quality control arrangements had revealed errors in the genotype results sent to the owners of five flocks participating in the national scrapie plan. The results had been provided to DEFRA by LGC, a private sector laboratory. As a precautionary measure DEFRA arranged for all of the blood samples tested so far by LGC under the national scrapie plan to be re-tested. This has involved re-testing over 4,000 samples. Although we have no had re-test results for all but 163 of those samples, the re-testing exercise is not yet complete. However, the re-testing has revealed some further errors in the original tests done by LGC. The re-testing exercise will be completed as soon as possible. All flock owners affected have been kept informed, and will be given revised results where this is necessary. DEFRA has already given corrected results to the owners of the five flocks where errors were originally detected. LGC has acknowledged the failure of their systems and has taken remedial action. Following a detailed inspection, DEFRA is now satisfied with LGC's revised procedures, but we regard as serious the shortcomings which have occurred, and we will be closely monitoring LGC's future performance.

Definitive Map

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to enable local authorities to deal with applications for modifications to the definitive map more rapidly.

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she plans to take to reduce the backlog of applications for modifications of public rights of way.

Alun Michael: Following enactment of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, we have provided new funding to assist local authorities with their rights of way duties. This includes additional funding for processing applications for modifications to the definitive map. We are also funding a project, managed by the Countryside Agency, that will improve the quality of applications from the public. This should enable local authorities to process modification orders faster.

Dioxins

Julia Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if her Department will produce a strategy for reducing the release of dioxins to the levels recommended by the Committee on Toxicity for the tolerable daily intake for dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls, with particular reference to releases from (a) Environment Agency regulated activities, (b) local authority-regulated activities and (c) activities that are not regulated; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Meacher: The recommendation of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) is for a tolerable daily intake (TDI) for dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls of 2 picogrammes TEQ/kilogramme bodyweight. The Food Standards Agency's programme of research and surveys for these contaminants has shown that the average dietary exposure in the UK (1.8 picogrammes TEQ/kilogramme bodyweight per day) is already below the new TDI, although consumers who eat a lot of fatty foods can exceed the TDI.
	Emissions from Environment Agency and local authority regulated activities are controlled under the systems of Integrated Pollution Control (which are progressively being replaced by the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations) and Local Air Pollution Control. These and other controls have made a major contribution to the approximately 70 per cent. reduction in emissions of dioxins to air during the past decade. As the major industrial sources are reduced, the less well regulated diffuse sources such as bonfires have become relatively more important, so action is also needed in these areas. The Government believe that there is a strong case for reducing environmental emissions of dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), particularly in the light of the revised recommended tolerable daily intake by the COT. In consultation with the devolved Administrations, other Government Departments and agencies the Department is, therefore, producing a UK position paper on dioxins and PCBs, which will set out proposals for achieving further reductions in emissions of these compounds, for consultation with a wide range of stakeholders.

Date-based Export Scheme

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with her European Union counterparts regarding the continued implementation of the date-based export scheme.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 25 January 2002
	The date-based export scheme continues to be available as the means of exporting beef from the UK, although it has been in abeyance for the duration of the foot and mouth disease outbreak. We recognise that the conditions of the scheme are onerous and that this is a disincentive to potential beef exporters to operate under the scheme. For this reason we are pressing the European Commission to propose changes to the conditions of the scheme to make it a more viable prospect for a wider range of beef exporters.

Fishing (Decommissioning)

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the source was of the funding for the £6 million offered to those vessels which successfully bid for fishing vessel decommissioning during October 2001.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 28 January 2002
	I announced the £6 million decommissioning scheme on 10 May 2001. These funds are additional to the £5 million provision for Cornwall I announced on 24 July 2000 would be available for the period 2001–02 to 2003–04, and the £6 million which I similarly announced for the rest of England. The scheme will be co-financed by the EU under the EU structural fund for fisheries (FIFG).

Fishing (Decommissioning)

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress she has made in respect of fulfilment of her Department's obligations regarding the completion of this year's fishing vessel decommissioning scheme.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 28 January 2002
	The applications which offer best value for money have now been approved, and I have extended the final date for claims by a month at the request of applicants.

Fishing (Decommissioning)

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the funding for this year's fishing vessel decommissioning scheme was (a) European and (b) UK moneys.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 28 January 2002
	The fisheries structural fund rules apply. For vessels meeting the scheme definition as Cornish 75 per cent. of payments will be funded by the EU. For vessels from the rest of England 50 per cent. is funded by the EU.

Impact Fishing

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in (a) Europe and (b) Norway, regarding the proposal to (i) take low impact fishing methods out of the quota system, (ii) introduce management regimes which encourage low impact fishing methods and (iii) establish systems which afford protection for low impact fishing methods in future policy development.

Elliot Morley: Under Community legislation we are required to take account of all landings for quota management purposes: there are no exceptions. However, in the context of the on-going review of the common fisheries policy, the Government have made it clear that we have at hand an opportunity to give new recognition to the role of fishermen using selective and environmentally friendly fishing techniques which have a low impact on stocks, such as North sea cod long liners and mackerel handliners. In our public response to the European Commission's Green Paper on the future of the CFP, we make exactly that point.
	In some cases, however, the Government have already introduced measures recognising the importance of certain low-impact fisheries. We have, for example, implemented enhanced underpinning arrangements in the south-west mackerel handline fishery, whereby the handliners receive a guaranteed minimum quota allocation each year. We also arrange 'quota swaps' to obtain additional fish where necessary.

Marine Environment

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to protect the marine environment.

Michael Meacher: Measures under way to provide further protection for the marine environment include the review of marine nature conservation, extension of the habitats directive out to the limit of jurisdiction of UK waters and proposals for integrated coastal zone management. The forthcoming Marine Stewardship report will set out our strategy for the sustainable development and conservation of the marine environment.

Rural Definition

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the progress being made towards the development of a single definition of rural for use by (a) her Department and (b) other sections of Government.

Alun Michael: Neither the Department nor the Government as a whole uses a single definition of a rural area, and it would be unrealistic to impose a standard definition for use in all contexts. For example, within a broadly "rural" county or district, not all parishes would be properly described as "rural". However, we recognise that there is a need for a more co-ordinated and consistent approach to the categorisation and use of definitions of urban and rural areas. For that reason DEFRA, DTLR, the Countryside Agency and the Office for National Statistics are working together towards a better set of definitions of urban and rural areas. In the short term, we plan to use for statistical purposes the definitions presently used by the Countryside Agency.

Fishing

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the effects of industrial fishing on whitefish species; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what action she is taking to ensure that industrial fishing vessels in the North sea do not net whitefish species while fishing for sandeels; and if she will press for an EU-wide ban on industrial fishing.

Elliot Morley: The annual weight of bycatch reported to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in relation to industrial fishing in the North sea averaged 6,000 tonnes of haddock, 9,000 tonnes of whiting and 1,000 tonnes of cod for the years 1995 to 1999.
	The following table compiled by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research (CEFAS) from statistics reported to ICES, shows how these industrial bycatch tonnages compare with landings and estimated discards for the same species, again averaged over the period 1995–99:
	
		
			  Haddock Whiting Cod 
		
		
			 Landings 74,000 36,000 126,000 
			 Discards 54,000 22,000 (22)8,000 
			 Bycatch 6,000 9,000 1,000 
		
	
	(22) 1999 only
	Although these figures leave no doubt that whitefish are caught in the small-meshed industrial fisheries, they do not in themselves, especially when viewed alongside the tonnages discarded by the whitefish fleets, make out a case for banning industrial fishing.
	However, on-going work by CEFAS, in part carried out in co-operation with Danish fishery managers, is aimed at refining our understanding of the bycatch, in particular in relation to the extent to which young fish of each of the whitefish species figure in it.

Fishing

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect of industrial fishing for sandeels on the sea-life food chain.

Elliot Morley: Using data from international scientific studies, CEFAS has related estimates of the abundance of the fish and seabirds in and around the North sea to information on the amount of sandeel found in their stomachs. The information results from comparing the average populations for the period 1974 to 1995 with a large amount of stomach data collected during intensive sampling of North sea stocks throughout two reference years, 1981 and 1991.
	This work suggests that, on average, natural predators have eaten about 2.7 million tonnes of sandeels each year, compared with around 700,000 tonnes currently taken by the sandeel fishery.
	On average 46 per cent. (1.2 million tonnes) was taken by mackerel, 22 per cent. (600,000 tonnes) by whiting, 6 per cent. by haddock, 5 per cent. by birds and 2 per cent. by cod.
	As a percentage averaged over the year, sandeels represented 20 per cent. of the diet for mackerel and whiting, 10 per cent. for haddock and 5 per cent. for saithe and cod. For sea birds the percentage was higher, averaging 40 per cent. for sea birds, rising to 90 per cent. during the chick rearing period. This is why sandeel fishing is currently not allowed on the Wee Bankie and why there is a seasonal closure at Shetland.
	Further national and international work is in hand to extend our detailed knowledge so that further measures can be considered if necessary.

Fishing

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she last discussed the issue of industrial fishing with her Danish counterpart; what recent representations she has made; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Senior officials from the Department held lengthy and productive discussions with their Danish counterparts on 16 November 2001. Scientific collaboration between Denmark and the United Kingdom on industrial fisheries is on-going, in particular in relation to by-catch and to the ground-breaking sandeel closure at Wee Bankie.

Parish Councils

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the 2001 report of the Countryside Agency on the quality of parish councils; if she will estimate how many parish councils were classed as (a) sleeping and (b) barely active; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: The Countryside Agency has not produced a report on the quality of parish councils, but it has undertaken to produce an indicator of community vibrancy. I refer the hon. Member to answers given on 24 January 2002 to the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew), Official Report, columns 1033–34W, for information on this issue.

IACS

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of the current financial year's integrated administration and control system payments have been received by farmers.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 28 January 2002
	As of 23 January 2002, 85.2 per cent. of claims under IACS (Arable Area Payments Scheme) have been paid.

IACS

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received concerning delays in paying farmers for claims within the integrated administration and control system; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has received a number of representations mainly in the form of parliamentary questions and correspondence.
	The industrial action which commenced on 20 August 2001 and which has severely impacted on claims processing was suspended for two weeks, beginning 11 January 2002. This is good news and has enabled the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) to put more resources into processing through overtime working. Additionally those offices with the largest backlogs are being reinforced by transferring in staff from other sites. The staff are keen to make up the lost ground and are working enthusiastically. That said there is no chance of RPA being able to recover before 31 January 2002 the several thousand man days of claims processing that has been lost. Arable Area Payments (AAPS) has been most seriously affected because this is a complex scheme on which it is not easy to deploy inexperienced staff.
	By the end of the payment window on 31 January 2002 RPA expect to have paid around 90 per cent. of claims and providing the industrial action remains suspended, AAPS payments should be completed by around mid-February 2002.
	Livestock scheme payments are also being affected but, although software has had to be upgraded to reflect regulatory changes on the bovine schemes and to carry out cross-checks on claims where holdings were affected by foot and mouth disease, RPA expect to make all the payments within the regulatory timescales.
	My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, also had a meeting with the British Banking Association (BBA), including representatives of all the main clearing banks, on 22 November 2001. It is hoped that as a result of that meeting the BBA will be sympathetic to the effect that the industrial dispute is having on the cash flow of farmers who have received their payments later than normal.

GM Crops

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Government will issue a public consultation on the future of GM crops in this country.

Elliot Morley: In response to their "Crops on Trial" report, we have asked the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission (AEBC) to provide further advice by the end of April on how and when to promote an effective public debate on the possible commercialisation of the crops in the Farm Scale Evaluations. The full Government response to the AEBC report is available at www.defra.gov.uk.

Refrigerators

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department has taken to deal with domestic refrigerator decommissioning following the recent European directive.

Michael Meacher: EC Regulation No. 2037/2000 requires the removal of controlled ozone depleting substances from domestic refrigeration units prior to scrapping. The Department has worked closely with stakeholders to ensure that adequate disposal routes exist for domestic fridges. Waste fridges may be refurbished and re-used, disposed of via incineration, exported to other member states for recycling, or stored in the UK pending treatment. In early December the Department issued guidance on the storage of fridges pending treatment, along with draft standards for the removal of ODS from fridges, which are now being finalised by the Environment Agency. The Department also announced £6 million funding for English local authorities for dealing with fridges and freezers until March 2002. We are continuing to assess the impacts of the regulation and will determine what further action is required beyond that.

Aggregates Levy

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many responses were received to her Department's consultation on the distribution of aggregates levy sustainability fund; and when she will publish a response.

Michael Meacher: The aggregates levy sustainability fund is a new fund with the aim of addressing the environmental effects associated with aggregates extraction.
	DEFRA published in October 2001 a consultation paper on the possible distribution of the aggregates levy sustainability fund in England.
	The consultation paper proposed to support work under three main objectives:
	Minimising the demand for primary aggregates
	Promoting environmentally friendly extraction and transport
	Reducing the effect of local aggregate extraction.
	The consultation period closed on 27 November 2001. A copy of the consultation document is available in the House of Commons Library 474 organisations were consulted. The consultation generated a total of 120 responses, 87 of which were received by 27 November. Following is a table of responses by sector.
	
		Responses by sector
		
			  Number of respondents Percentage 
		
		
			 Local authorities 54 45 
			 Waste management companies 2 1.7 
			 Environmental bodies 21 17.5 
			 Countryside and rural bodies 8 6.7 
			 Minerals trade associations and operators 10 8.3 
			 Individuals 3 2.5 
			 Other interested parties 22 18.3 
			  
			 Total 120 100 
		
	
	We are currently reflecting on all the issues raised by the consultation and will decide on the final shape and distribution of the fund shortly.

Nitrates

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish the scientific advice she has received concerning the designation of nitrate vulnerable zones; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Meacher: The Environment Agency has provided science-based advice on the methodology used to identify areas for designation. This is included as an annex in the consultation document "How should England implement the 1991 Nitrates Directive" published on 20 December 2001.
	Nitrate vulnerable zones comprise land designated because it drains into nitrate polluted waters, or waters that could become nitrate polluted. Three methods are used to identify such waters.
	For surface waters, monitoring data for nitrates collected over recent years are analysed statistically to identify monitoring points exceeding the level of 50 mg per litre referred to in the directive. In addition, trend analysis methods will be used to identify any additional monitoring points that can be expected to exceed 50 mg per litre in the future.
	For ground waters, monitoring data from existing boreholes are processed using mathematical modelling to predict where ground water can be expected to exceed the level of 50 mg per litre, either now or in the future, as a result of nitrate leaching from land.
	For inland, coastal and estuarine waters the Environment Agency consider a variety of criteria to assess whether waters are eutrophic or may become eutrophic if no action is taken. These criteria include: nutrient concentrations; occurrence and duration of algal blooms; low dissolved oxygen concentrations; changes in fauna, plant growth and algal growth; and occurrence and magnitude of paralytic shellfish poisoning. Only those waters where nitrate is considered to be a factor causing eutrophication are included for the purposes of designating nitrate vulnerable zones.

Aarhus Convention

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to ratify the Aarhus Convention signed on 25 June 1998; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Meacher: The Government strongly support the Aarhus convention and signed the treaty when it opened for signature in 1998. The three underlying principles of transparency, participation and access to justice are central to achieving sustainable development.
	The majority of the convention is already implemented in the UK although some legislative amendments will be necessary, in particular to the public access to environmental information regime. The Government intend to ratify the convention as soon as all of the necessary provisions are in place. The exact date by which this will be done is dependent on the legislative timetables of the devolved Administrations.

Foot and Mouth

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the findings and recommendations of the National Farmers Union's report entitled, "Lessons to be Learned from the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease"; and whether she intends to publish a response to the report.

Elliot Morley: I welcome the National Farmers Union report. I understand that it has been sent to the Lessons Learned inquiry, which I expect will take account of the report's findings in making recommendations.

Farm Subsidy Claims

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what penalties are imposed on farmers who make mistakes when they are filling in claim forms for farming subsidies; and whether farmers can rectify mistakes on claim forms without a penalty being imposed.

Elliot Morley: The penalties imposed vary according to the type and severity of the mistake. The penalties applied for the 2001 scheme year are detailed in Annex 7 of the 2001 Integrated Administration and Control System Explanatory Guide, copies of which are being placed in the Library of the House. A summary of Annex 7 follows:
	Part 1. Applications received after the closing date
	1–25 calendar days late. The applicant will lose 1 per cent. of their entitlement to aid for each working day by which the application is late and for each scheme to which the application relates.
	Over 25 calendar days late. The applicant will lose their entire entitlement to aid for each scheme to which the application relates.
	Part 2. Inaccuracies discovered in areas declared
	Area found is more than declared. No penalty, but the applicant's entitlement will be based on the declared area.
	The area found is less than declared. The applicant's entitlement will be based on the lower figure. In addition this lower figure will be adjusted as follows: if difference is more than 3 per cent. or 2 hectares, but not more than 20 per cent. of the area found, the adjustment will be twice the difference found. If the difference is more than 20 per cent., no area-linked aid will be granted.
	Part 3. Inaccuracies discovered in number of eligible animals
	Number of animals found is more than declared. No penalty, but payment will be based on the number declared.
	Number of animals found is less than declared. (In cases where a claim covers a maximum of 20 animals.)
	(i) Difference between numbers found and declared is one or two animals. The applicant's entitlement will be based on the number found, but rate of premium adjusted by the percentage difference found.
	(ii) Difference between numbers found and declared is three to four animals. The applicant's entitlement will be based on the number found, but rate of premium adjusted by twice the percentage difference found.
	(iii) Difference between numbers found and declared is more than four. No premium will be paid under the scheme concerned.
	Number of animals found is less than declared. (In cases where a claim covers 21 or more animals.)
	(i) Difference between the number declared and found is not more than 5 per cent. of the number found. The applicant's entitlement will be based on the number found, but rate of premium will be reduced by the percentage difference found.
	(ii) Difference between the number declared and found is more than 5 per cent. but not more than 20 per cent. of the number found. The applicant's entitlement will be based on the number found, but rate of premium reduced by twice the percentage difference found.
	(iii) Difference between the number declared and found is more than 20 per cent. of the number found. No premium will be paid under the scheme concerned.
	Mistakes
	Mistakes in area aid applications and livestock claims which can be classified as "obvious" according to European Commission guidelines, and where the farmer acted in good faith and there is no risk of fraud, can be rectified without penalty at any time, and are summarised as follows. All other mistakes attract the penalties listed in Annex 7 of the 2001 Integrated Administration and Control System Explanatory Guide which is summarised in Parts 1–3.
	Types of obvious errors, which can be rectified
	(i) Errors of a purely clerical nature, which are obvious during a simple examination of the claim, i.e.:
	boxes not filled in or information lacking
	erroneous statistical information
	(ii) Errors detected as a result of a contradiction appearing in a more in-depth examination (manual or computerised) of the claim, which compares information (including supporting documentation, such as a map) submitted in the same claim, i.e.:
	arithmetical mistakes
	inconsistencies between the information provided on the same form (for example, a parcel declared twice in a single claim);
	parcels declared for two different types of usage
	(iii) Anomalies involving parcel numbers or references which are detected during the crosscheck of the claim with databases, such as the parcel identification system, i.e.:
	figures reversed (parcel number 1169 instead of 1196
	mistakes in the map reference number
	number of neighbouring parcel given, resulting from map reading error.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Lost/Stolen Property

John Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list those items valued at more than £50 which have been stolen or lost from his Department in each of the last four years.

Christopher Leslie: For the purpose of this answer my Department includes the Prime Minister's Office. Items stolen or lost in each of the last four financial years, and their approximate value, are shown in the table.
	Corresponding figures for the 2001–02 financial year have yet to be collected.
	
		£ 
		
			 Lost or stolen property  
		
		
			 1997–98  
			 Various IT equipment 13,095 
			 3 Computers 1,371 
			 1 Bicycle 300 
			 Ladders 200 
			 Cash; credit cards; payable orders 135 
			 1 Car stereo (stolen from a leased car) 100 
			 Consumables 89 
			  
			 Total 15,290 
			   
			 1998–99  
			 Various IT equipment 18,454 
			 Cash; credit cards; payable orders 2,500 
			 Software 300 
			 1 Computer printer 237 
			 1 Car stereo (stolen from a leased car) 100 
			  
			 Total 21,591 
			   
			 1999–2000  
			 2 Projectors 12,678 
			 6 Laptop computers 9,800 
			 7 Computers 5,600 
			 4 Computer printers 990 
			 Tools 850 
			 Other IT equipment 657 
			 2 Amplifiers 500 
			 1 Video recorder 300 
			 2 Mobile phones 237 
			 Consumables 200 
			 Cash, credit cards; payable orders 171 
			 1 Tape recorder 115 
			  
			 Total 32,09 
			 2000–01  
			 13 Computers 14,627 
			 10 Laptop computers 13,800 
			 Cash;, credit cards; payable orders 3,000 
			 1 CD writer 800 
			 2 Cameras 714 
			 2 Mobile phones 333 
			 1 Minidisc player 200 
			 1 Car stereo (stolen from a leased car) 100 
			  
			 Total 33,574

Theft and Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years.

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate his Department has made of the cost to its budget since 1 May 1997 of fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Christopher Leslie: The cost of theft and fraud to my Department, its agencies, and non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years, is shown in the table.
	Corresponding figures for 2001–02 financial year have yet to be collated.
	
		£ 
		
			  Department Agencies NDPBs Total 
		
		
			 1997–98 15,360 0 0 15,360 
			 1998–99 48,472 0 1,000 49,472 
			 1999–2000 32,097 0 0 32,097 
			 2000–01 33,574 0 1,200 34,774

Public Relations Consultants

John Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was spent by (a) his Department and (b) bodies for which it is responsible on external public relations consultants in each of the last four years.

Christopher Leslie: Expenditure on external public relations consultancy is not separately identifiable on the Department's accounting system and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.

Market Research

John Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what expenditure has been incurred by his (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if he will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each.

Christopher Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Winchester (Mr. Oaten) on 10 December 2001, Official Report, column 594W.
	A list of the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.

Remuneration

John Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will estimate the number of individuals in his (a) Department, (b) related agencies and (c) related non- departmental public bodies whose annual remuneration including benefits in kind exceeded (i) £100,000 and (ii) £200,000 in each of the last four years.

Christopher Leslie: The information in relation to the number of individuals in (a) the Cabinet Office, which includes the Parliamentary Counsel Office, and (b) related agencies whose annual remuneration included benefits in kind exceeded £100,000 in the last four years is set out in the table.
	No individual received an annual remuneration in excess of £200,000 during this period. Annual remuneration includes basic salary and allowances.
	
		
			 As at 1 April Department Related agencies 
		
		
			 1998 4 0 
			 1999 13 0 
			 2000 14 0 
			 2001 18 0 
		
	
	The information for (c) related non-departmental public bodies is available in the annual Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies" copies of which are placed in the Libraries of the House.

Civil Service

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in each of the civil servant grades, what proportion are (a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities.

Christopher Leslie: Figures for April 2001 show that 24.2 per cent. of the senior civil service were women, and 2.4 per cent. of staff at this level were from an ethnic minority background. At levels below the senior civil service, Departments and agencies are responsible for their own grading structures, but these have been allocated to broad responsibility levels to give a common basis for tabulation.
	
		Percentage of female and ethnic minority staff by responsibility level—April 2000 -- Headcount
		
			   Percentage  
			  Number Female Ethnic minorities(23) 
		
		
			 Grades 6 and 7 22,750 24.3 2.6 
			 Senior/Higher Executive Officer 74,920 30.6 3.1 
			 Executive Officer 114,580 50.4 5.7 
			 Administrative Officer/Assistant 249,090 62.4 7.5 
			 Grade not reported 2,670 37.1 2.5 
			 All non-industrial staff 467,770 52.0 6.0 
			 All industrial staff 29,870 14.6 1.0 
			  
			 All staff 497,640 49.8 5.8 
		
	
	(23) Ethnic minority as a percentage of known ethnic origin

Stolen Equipment

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what equipment has been stolen from his Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was.

Christopher Leslie: Items stolen between 1 May 1997 and 31 March 2001, and their approximate value, are shown in the table.
	Corresponding figures for the 2001–02 financial year have yet to be collated.
	
		
			 Description Number of items Value (£) 
		
		
			 Computers 23 21,598 
			 Laptop computers 16 23,600 
			 Various other IT equipment — 32,205 
			 Projectors 2 12,678 
			 Computer printers 5 1,227 
			 Mobile phones 3 570 
			 Cameras 2 714 
			 Car Stereos (stolen from leased cars) 3 300 
			 Video recorder 1 300 
			 Minidisc player 1 200 
			 CD writer 1 800 
			 Amplifiers 2 500 
			 Bicycle 1 300 
			 Tape recorder 1 115 
			 Ladders — 200 
			 Software — 300 
			 Tools — 850 
			 Consumables — 309 
			   
			 Total  96,766

LORD CHANCELLOR

Magistrates

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many serving magistrates live in the Knowsley, North and Sefton, East constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Christopher Leslie: I have been asked to reply.
	My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who is responsible for the appointment of magistrates in Knowsley and Sefton has asked me to say that the Knowsley, North and Sefton, East constituency covers two Petty Sessions areas—Knowsley and South Sefton. 34 magistrates live in this constituency.

Magistrates

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many magistrates serve in the Knowsley area; how many of those live in Knowsley; and if he will make a statement.

Christopher Leslie: I have been asked to reply.
	My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who is responsible for the appointment of magistrates in Knowsley, has asked me to say that there are 88 magistrates on the Knowsley bench, 48 of whom live in the Knowsley area.

Guardian ad Litem Service

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what targets she has set for the Guardian ad Litem Service for answering mail from (a) hon. Members and (b) members of the public.

Rosie Winterton: The Guardian ad Litem Service is now a part of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). The Lord Chancellor expects CAFCASS to give a timely response to mail from both hon. Members and members of the public.
	CAFCASS is working to establish standard response times for procedures across the service. CAFCASS is also undertaking work to devise a unified complaints procedure for the Service. CAFCASS aims to meet my Department's target for replying to mail from hon. Members within 20 working days of receipt.

Guardian ad Litem Service

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proposals she has for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Guardian ad Litem Service.

Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor has tasked the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) with delivering improvements to the efficiency and effectiveness of the guardian service.
	CAFCASS is developing a new, unified service bringing together: the family court welfare services previously provided by the probation service; the children's division of the official solicitor's department; and local authority guardian ad litem and reporting officer services. The establishment of CAFCASS creates a new national body with a national voice to be an effective champion for children involved in family proceedings.

Empty Properties

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what his estimate is of the (a) annual cost and (b) total value of the empty properties owned by (i) his Department, (ii) his agencies and (iii) other public bodies for which he has had responsibility in each of the last four years.

Michael Wills: The Lord Chancellor's Department has owned no empty properties in the last four years. The Court Service and the Northern Ireland Court Service have owned a total of 17 properties which have been empty at some point over the last four years. In all cases the buildings were empty only while being marketed for sale, except in one case where the building was empty prior to refurbishment. The estimates of cost and value are shown in the table:
	
		£ 
		
			 Period Cost Value 
		
		
			 1997–98 275,263 363,100 
			 1998–99 122,186 1,638,060 
			 1999–2000 331,688 2,473,210 
			 2000–01 99,538 1,816,630 
		
	
	The other public bodies for which the Department is responsible have owned no empty properties in the last four years.

Department Expenditure (Publications)

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what his estimate is of the expenditure of his Department on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in each of the last four years.

Michael Wills: The estimated expenditure on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in each of the last four years is as follows:
	1997–98: £60,200
	1998–99: £61,700
	1999–2000: £64,600
	2000–01: £67,500.

Court Reporting Officers

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will make a statement on the work and role of court reporting officers.

Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor has tasked the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) with operational responsibility for the work and role of court reporting officers.
	CAFCASS is developing a new, unified service bringing together: the family court welfare services previously provided by the probation service; the Children's Division of the Official Solicitor's Department; and local authority Guardian ad Litem and Reporting Officer services. The establishment of CAFCASS creates a new national body with a national voice to be an effective champion for children involved in family proceedings.

Court Reporting Officers

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans she has to review the role and work of court reporting officers, with particular reference to the evaluation of the reports, complaints procedures and their ability to make recommendations.

Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor has tasked the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) with operational responsibility for the work and role of court reporting officers.
	CAFCASS has day to day responsibility for the services provided by all of its staff. There are currently no plans to review the role and work of court reporting officers. CAFCASS is undertaking work to devise National Standards and a complaints procedure. The effectiveness of such procedures will be monitored by their Inspectorate who will report their findings to me.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many regulatory impact assessments have been produced by his Department since August 2001; and if he will list those produced (a) following initial consultation with affected parties about the most appropriate methodology for assessing costs and other impacts and (b) which set out full commercial impacts, including profitability, employment, consumer prices and competitiveness, as recommended in Good Policy Making.

Michael Wills: The Lord Chancellor's Department has produced two partial regulatory impact assessments since August 2001. The partial regulatory impact assessments, which were included in the relevant consultation papers, relate to:
	Payments into court in satisfaction of claims
	General pre-action protocol.
	No full regulatory impact assessments have been produced since August 2001. For further information, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office on 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 483W.

Shared Residency Orders

Gillian Merron: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what recent research she has commissioned into the effect of shared residency orders on benefits for non-resident parents when custody is divided equally.

Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor's Department has not commissioned any research specifically on the effect of shared residence on benefits for non-resident parents. The Children Act 1989 makes the welfare of the child the court's paramount consideration. The Department has therefore undertaken a research review and commissioned research on the impact on children of family breakdown. Income-related benefits for non- resident parents are a matter for the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Law Commission Report No. 270

Adrian Flook: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans the Government have to bring forward the draft legislation contained within Law Commission Report No. 270.

Michael Wills: Following the publication of the Law Commission's Report No. 270: "Limitation of Actions", the Lord Chancellor is currently considering the recommendations contained in the report and will announce his decision before the summer.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Pensions (Prisoners)

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if prisoners are entitled to receive their state pension.

Ian McCartney: No. Prisoners are disqualified for receipt of social security benefits including retirement pension.

Minimum Income Guarantee

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will provide a breakdown of the costs of the publicity campaign for the minimum income guarantee.

Ian McCartney: The Government's MIG take-up campaign has so far resulted in more than 127,000 successful claims with newly eligible pensioner households gaining on average an extra £20 per week. Advertising and media costs of the campaign have amounted to £4.015 million.

Minimum Income Guarantee

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners he estimates are eligible to claim the MIG in Loughborough; and how many claim.

Ian McCartney: As at August 2001 there were 2,000 minimum income guarantee (MIG) claimants in the Loughborough constituency. Estimates of the numbers of people who may be eligible for, but who have not claimed the MIG, are not available below national level.

Minimum Income Guarantee

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate how many of the single pensioners who have failed to take up their entitlement to the minimum income guarantee are (a) male and (b) female.

Ian McCartney: Estimates of take-up for the minimum income guarantee (MIG) by single male and single female pensioners were published in "Income Related Benefits—Estimates of Take Up in 1999/2000", a copy of which is held in the House of Commons Library.

Minimum Income Guarantee

Ann Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Kirklees claim the minimum income guarantee.

Ian McCartney: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
	As at August 2001, there were 12,400 customers in receipt of the minimum income guarantee in Kirklees.

Regulation (Costs)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the cost to public funds in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02 of regulations introduced by his Department in 2000–01.

Ian McCartney: We are satisfied that the benefits of regulations introduced by the Department in 2000–01 justify the cost to public funds.

National Teleclaims Service (Retirement Pension)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the cost in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02 of the national teleclaims service for retirement pension.

Ian McCartney: The national teleclaims service for retirement pension has been in operation from October 2000. The cost in 2000–01 was £1,003,327 and is estimated at £2,265,801 in 2001–02. For both years, such costs include a subsidy for inbound calls made by customers at local call rates.

Working Families Tax Credit

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the (a) number of recipients of working families tax credit who are also in receipt of housing benefit (i) in England and (ii) each English region and (b) estimated current net cost of discounting working families tax credit for the purposes of calculating housing benefit for existing claimants.

Malcolm Wicks: Information on the number of housing benefit recipients in England who are also receiving working families tax credit by Government office region is in the table.
	It is estimated that the net cost in 2000–01 of discounting working families tax credit in calculating entitlement to housing benefit for benefit recipients in Great Britain at May 2000 would have been £250 million.
	
		
			  Government office region Number of housing benefit recipients also receiving working families tax credit 
		
		
			 North East 12,000 
			 North West 26,000 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 20,000 
			 East Midlands 14,000 
			 West Midlands 21,000 
			 East 16,000 
			 London 28,000 
			 South East 29,000 
			 South West 19,000 
			 England Total 185,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The data refer to households, which may be a single person, a couple or a family.
	2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
	3. Figures include those people in receipt of either the standard working families tax credit or the 30 hour premium working families tax credit.
	Source:
	Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, annual one per cent. sample, taken in May 2000. This is the latest available data source that provides the number of housing benefit recipients who also receive working families tax credit.

Regulation 61 Payment Scheme

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what was the total grant available to local authorities in 2001–02 following the introduction of the discretionary payment scheme to those persons who require additional assistance to pay their rent or council tax;
	(2)  how much money was claimed by local authorities from his Department in 2000–01 from the Regulation 61 payment scheme;
	(3)  what are the estimated savings to his Department from the abolition of Regulation 61 payments and the introduction of the discretionary payment scheme for those persons who require additional assistance with rent or council tax;
	(4)  what was the budget available to local authorities in 2000–01 for Regulation 61 payments; and how much of this money (a) was direct grant and (b) had to be funded from the general fund of local authorities;
	(5)  what consultations his Department had with the local authority associations regarding the abolition of the Regulation 61 payment scheme.

Malcolm Wicks: From 2 July 2001 we replaced the exceptional hardship and exceptional circumstances schemes with improved arrangements that are broader in scope than the old Regulation 61 provisions. Subject to certain conditions, local authorities are now able to give additional payments to any person whose housing benefit or council tax benefit is restricted where they are satisfied the person is in need of further financial assistance with housing costs. Unlike the old scheme there are no prescribed definitions of either "exceptional hardship" or "exceptional circumstances".
	The new measures give local authorities an incentive to direct funds to helping those people most in need and were not introduced to generate savings.
	The total budget available to local authorities in 2000–01 for exceptional hardship payments under Regulation 61(3) was £50 million of which the Government contribution was £20 million. Each local authority was allocated a share of the £20 million. In the same year the budget available to each local authority for exceptional circumstance payments under Regulation 61(2) was 0.1 per cent. of its total housing benefit expenditure in that year. No Government contribution was made towards these payments.
	The total budget available to local authorities under the new arrangements from their introduction on 2 July 2001 until 31 March 2002 is £37.5 million, of which the Government contribution is £15 million.
	We consulted the local authority associations in the usual way about these changes. In addition, a user group of local authority representatives was actively involved in the development of the new arrangements.

Local Reference Rent

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  in how many and which registration areas the Rent Service uses administrative boroughs to determine the locality by which the local reference rent is ascertained;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the implications and economic consequences of the Court of Appeal Judgment in the case of Regina (Saadat and others) v. The Rent Service;
	(3)  what consultations took place in the drawing up of SI 2001, No. 3561; when the LGA was informed of SI 2001, No. 3561; and for what reason the SI was not referred to the Social Security Advisory Committee;
	(4)  how he will apply SI No. 3561 to ensure that in determining local reference rent, the Rent Service is not disadvantaging otherwise eligible claimants from more affluent areas;
	(5)  if the purpose of SI No. 3561 is to allow the Rent Service to continue to use administrative boundaries to set local reference rent.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 15 January 2002
	Our priorities for housing benefit are to drive up standards of service, tackle fraud and error, reduce barriers to work and tackle social exclusion. In support of these aims we want to ensure that housing benefit does not provide a disincentive to work by subsidising accommodation which a person could not otherwise afford. That is why housing benefit for rented accommodation in the deregulated private sector is restricted to the broadly average rent level for similar sized properties in a locality (the local reference rent).
	Our policy is that local reference rents should reflect the generality of the market and must therefore be based on a geographical area large enough to take account of the bigger picture, reflecting a broad choice of housing.
	Rent officers use their professional expertise and judgment to determine the size and boundaries of localities. Using fixed boundaries, such as local authority areas, would not necessarily reliably reflect the market. Moreover, market forces mean that, over time, the size and shape of localities will change. Information on those localities which happen to be co-terminous with local authority areas at a particular point in time is not collected.
	The Court of Appeal in its recent judgment Regina (Saadat and others) v. The Rent Service took the view that the locality used by the rent officer to calculate a local reference rent was larger than that needed reliably to decide such a rent. The formula arrived at by the court under the order then in force runs counter to our intention that localities should be based on broad geographical areas. The application of this formula could also have led to a large increase in the number of localities nationally, making it impractical to operate, resulting in delays for people claiming benefit and putting an extra burden on local authorities.
	We therefore acted swiftly to introduce amending legislation in the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) (Amendment) Order 2001, SI 3561 which now defines locality in a way which reflects Rent Service good practice. These amendments are designed to ensure that our policy is achieved and to restore certainty. They are not designed to change the way in which localities and local reference rents are decided or to widen the definition of localities so that they increase in size. The position for people claiming housing benefit is therefore unchanged, irrespective of the affluence of the area in which they live.
	The Department wrote to the local authority associations on 1 November 2001, four days before the order was laid before Parliament, outlining the nature of the proposed amendments. No representations were received in the intervening period. There is no statutory requirement to consult the Social Security Advisory Committee about proposals to make orders, but the committee was informed of the proposed amendments, as a matter of courtesy, at the same time as we wrote to the associations.

Benefit Recipients

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of people who will, in October 2003, be in households in receipt of one or more of (a) pension credit, (b) housing benefit, (c) council tax benefit, (d) child tax credit, (e) working tax credit, (f) income support and (g) income-related jobseeker's allowance.

Ian McCartney: The estimated number of people receiving one or more of the following: pension credit, housing benefit, council tax benefit, income support and income-related jobseeker's allowance in 2003–04 is 6.9 million. Numbers of people expected to receive child tax credit and working tax credit are not available as the rates and thresholds have not yet been set.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are consistent with the expenditure totals for Social Security published in the pre-Budget report.
	2. Benefit forecasts of numbers in receipt are provided on an annual average basis.
	3. The estimated numbers in receipt of pension credit are based on an end of year figure. Recipients will have their payments backdated to October 2003.

Market Research

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what expenditure has been incurred by his (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if he will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each.

Ian McCartney: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many regulatory impact assessments have been produced by his Department since August 2001; and if he will list those produced (a) following initial consultation with affected parties about the most appropriate methodology for assessing costs and other impacts and (b) which set out full commercial impacts, including profitability, employment, consumer prices and competitiveness, as recommended in Good Policy Making.

Ian McCartney: The Department has published one regulatory impact assessment (RIA) since August 2001. This related to the Disability Discrimination (Providers of Services) (Adjustment of Premises) Regulations 2001 which come into force on 1 October 2004. A copy of the RIA is available in the Library. No other regulations introduced in this period impact on business.
	This RIA is based on one published in April 1999 on which full public consultation took place. Although no specific reference to commercial impacts was made in the RIA in that consultation, respondents were asked to suggest ways in which the assessment of costs, benefits and impact on small organisations could be improved. They were also asked for more general comments about the assessment and possible improvements to it.
	I refer the hon. Member to the written answer my hon. Friend, the Cabinet Office Parliamentary Secretary gave on 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 483W, about the advice on RIAs contained in the Good Policy Making guide.

Winter Fuel Allowance

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many men aged 60 to 64 years have claimed the winter fuel allowance in Scotland; what percentage this represents of the total number of men aged 60 to 64 years who are eligible for the allowance; broken down by local authority area in Scotland; and if he will provide this information for each winter from 1997 to date.

Ian McCartney: The information is not available in the format requested.

Hospital Stays

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow), on 14 January 2002, Official Report, column 43W on hospital stays, if he will provide corresponding estimates for 2000–01 for other benefits affected by the rules; and if he will provide a breakdown in each case between pensioners and non-pensioners.

Ian McCartney: The information requested is in the table:
	
		Million 
		
			  Working age Pension age Total reduction 
		
		
			  Total reduction in benefit due to 6–52 weeks hospital downrating 
			 Incapacity benefit 6 n/a 6 
			 Severe disablement allowance 3 0 4 
			 
			  Total reduction in benefit due to 52 weeks hospital downrating 
			 Incapacity benefit 8 n/a 8 
			 Severe disablement allowance 19 *2 21 
			 
			  Total reduction in benefit due to benefit being withdrawn after 4 weeks in hospital 
			 Disability living allowance 10 22 32 
			 Attendance allowance n/a 80 80 
			 Invalid care allowance 3 0 3 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The information has been obtained from a number of administrative sources and a number of assumptions have been made, ie numbers marked * are taken from a small number of sample cases and are subject to a relatively high sampling error and should only be used as an indication of the current situation and it has been assumed that figures in a given quarter remain constant throughout the year.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest million so total may not sum.
	3. It is not possible to provide accurate total reductions for income support, housing benefit, or council tax benefit.

Unfair Dismissal

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for each year since 1992, how much compensation for unfair dismissal the Department of Work and Pensions has paid to its employees, broken down by (a) employees of each executive agency and (b) employees of other parts of the Department; and how many employees have received compensation in each year.

Nick Brown: The information is not collected in the form requested except for that supplied in relation to the Employment Service. With the exception of the Employment Service approval for the settlement of these claims may be obtained either at area or head office level, these figures are not collated centrally.
	Figures for the Employment Service are available for financial years 1993–94 to date. Prior to this figures were not collected in the form requested.
	
		Employment Service
		
			 Year Total payments (£) Number of employees 
		
		
			 1993–94 6,958.97 3 
			 1994–95 6,488.00 3 
			 1995–96 48,732.79 12 
			 1996–97 63,421.65 6 
			 1997–98 32,885.00 3 
			 1998–99 1,000.00 1 
			 1999–2000 4,334.44 1 
			 2000–01 31,251.00 6

Stakeholder Pensions

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what is the average amount saved by each person who has taken out a stakeholder pension.

Ian McCartney: The information is not yet available. Information on the total amount paid into stakeholder pensions on which claims for tax relief on pension contributions have been processed, and the number of individuals covered by such claims, is published by the Inland Revenue on its website. The information does not therefore cover all stakeholder pensions sold. Further details covering the period up to the end of September 2001 will be published on the website at the end of January.

Disabled People (Income Support)

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the maximum income support is payable to a (a) disabled pensioner and (b) disabled adult under 60 years of age.

Ian McCartney: There is no maximum amount of income support or minimum income guarantee payable. The amount payable is dependent on an individuals circumstances and takes account of a number of factors. These include: whether the person is single, married or has dependants; their level of other income and savings; and receipt of other benefits such as attendance allowance.
	From April 2001 the minimum income guarantee rate for a single pensioner is £98.15 and £140.55 for a couple. The severe disability premium is £41.55 for a single person or where one member of a couple qualifies and £83.10 for a couple where both qualify.

Winter Fuel Payments

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many elderly people were waiting for their winter fuel payment on 1 January; and what steps he is taking to eliminate the backlog in processing winter fuel payments.

Ian McCartney: Winter fuel payments are made automatically to people who are in receipt of certain benefits, which include retirement pension. These payments were issued prior to 1 January 2002 and represent the majority of winter fuel payments. Other people who are entitled to a winter fuel payment are required to submit a claim form. If the claim was received before 24 September 2001, payments were also made by 1 January 2002. However, inquiries from individuals regarding payments not yet received are investigated and a payment issued as soon as possible, where appropriate.

Salary-related Pension Schemes

Gillian Merron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to introduce changes to the minimum funding requirement for salary- related pension schemes; and if these changes will be applied retrospectively.

Ian McCartney: On 7 March 2001 the Government announced proposals to replace the minimum funding requirement (MFR) with a long-term scheme specific standard in the context of a regime of transparency and disclosure, with additional measures to strengthen protection. Implementing these proposals in full will require primary legislation, and we are working with the pensions industry and other interested parties to develop proposals for legislation as soon as parliamentary time becomes available.
	On 18 September 2001, we published "The Minimum Funding Requirement: The next stage of reform" which sets out our plans for the next stage of reform of the MFR, including consultation on draft regulations introducing interim changes to the MFR in advance of its replacement. The consultation period on the draft regulations ended on 10 December, and we plan to introduce changes before April this year. The regulations will not be retrospective.

Occupational Pensions

Gillian Merron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will ensure that the review of the security of occupational pensions includes measures to protect the rights of non-pensioners to the fair value of their accrued rights in the event of insolvency.

Ian McCartney: On 7 March 2001 the Government published "Security for Occupational Pensions: The Government's Proposals", which set out our proposals for providing more effective security for members of defined benefit occupational pension schemes. Implementing these proposals in full will require primary legislation, and we are working with the pensions industry and other interested parties to develop detailed proposals for legislation as soon as parliamentary time becomes available. As part of this process we are considering what arrangements should apply when a scheme is wound-up with an insolvent employer.

Child Support

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 10 December 2001, Official Report, column 610W, on child support, for what reason the December 2001 edition of the Appeals Service suggests that all existing CSA clients will be assessed on the new basis some time in 2003; and if he will make a statement on the extra resources being devoted to the Appeals Service in preparation for the anticipated increase in CSA-related appeals.

Malcolm Wicks: Changes to the child support scheme will take effect for new cases from April 2002. Existing cases will be transferred once the new scheme is working well, which we expect to be about a year later. Additional funding of £1.7 million has been allocated to the Appeals Service for 2002–03. This sum includes the staffing costs for 50 additional staff. A further £398,000 has been allocated to implement the necessary changes to IT procedures, and develop new training material for staff and panel members, resulting from the new child support legislation.

Disability Living Allowances

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2002, Official Report, column 813W, on disability living allowances, in which constituencies (a) the revised arrangements for obtaining relevant information from claimants' general practitioners are being piloted and (b) the alternative system for extra-costs disability benefits based on activities for managing life are being tested; and what activities are encompassed within the phrase 'activities for managing life'.

Maria Eagle: The revised General Practitioner Factual Report is being trialed in the Wembley Disability Benefits Centre. This centre deals with cases in an area from Oxfordshire in the west, to Great Yarmouth in the east, and from North London up to Peterborough.
	The test of the Activities for Managing Life (AML) model involves up to 600 volunteers throughout Great Britain. Volunteers are not selected on a constituency basis, but are drawn from those people making new claims for DLA/AA.
	The AML model is based on 16 functional activities necessary for self-care. In addition there are two activities (17 and 18) specifically for children aged 12 or under to test the best way of gathering information on the care needs of children.
	The activities are:
	1. Feeding and drinking
	2. Dressing and undressing
	3. Washing and bathing
	4. Using the toilet
	5. Getting in/out and turning in bed
	6. Mobility
	7. Rising and sitting
	8. Fits or blackouts
	9. Orientation
	10. Taking medication or undergoing therapeutic procedures
	11. Reliance on machines and equipment
	12. Communication
	13. Budgeting
	14. Hygiene
	15. Daily routine
	16. Awareness of danger
	17. Childhood development
	18. Help children need in connection with their treatment.

HEALTH

Ophthalmology

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on waiting times for ophthalmology referrals at the Kent and Canterbury hospital.

Hazel Blears: We have been informed that over 200 patients are currently waiting more than 26 weeks for a first appointment for ophthalmology at the Kent and Canterbury hospital. However, since the start of the 2001–02 financial year, East Kent hospitals national health service trust has achieved a 4,990 reduction in the numbers of patients waiting over 26 weeks.
	The trust has taken a number of actions to reduce waiting times for ophthalmology still further and ensure it achieves its year end target.

Wheelchair Services

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the level of funding was for the Harrow Wheelchair Service in each of the last five years;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on his plans to increase funding for wheelchair services and on the method of distribution used to allocate this funding.

Jacqui Smith: Figures for individual wheelchair services are not held centrally. Funding for wheelchair services is part of health authorities general allocations. It is for health authorities in partnership with primary care groups/trusts and other local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services. Health authority allocations for 2002–03 were announced on 6 December 2001.

NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the use of confidential information held by community health councils following the implementation of the NHS Reform Bill.

Hazel Blears: The use and storage of confidential records is covered by the Data Protection Act 1998 and Health Service Council 1999/053 "For the Record". This issue will form part of the formal transition process to the new system that will be managed following consultation with the Transition Advisory Board.

Beta Interferon

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with drug companies on the reduction of the cost of beta interferon in the UK to the level of other European countries; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The Department has held discussions with Schering, Biogen and Serono, the manufacturers of the three beta interferon products licensed in the United Kingdom, and with Aventis and Teva, who jointly market Copaxone (glatiramer), in relation to the possible provision of these therapies for patients with multiple sclerosis in a manner which could be considered to be cost effective. These discussions began on 5 September, after the Department and other consultees had received copies of the preliminary appraisal determination of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, and are still continuing.

Beta Interferon

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the prescribing policy of Gloucestershire health authority of beta interferon; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 22 January 2002
	In Gloucestershire health authority beta interferon is prescribed to patients with relapsing/remitting multiple sclerosis who fulfil the clinical criteria of the guidelines of the Association of British Neurologists. The health authority has provided additional funding of £300,000 a year to meet the costs of this treatment. This policy will be reviewed following the publication of guidance by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.

Asylum Seekers

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 31 October 2001, Official Report, column 828W, on asylum seekers, how many local authorities claimed grant for (a) under 16-year-olds, and (b) 16 and 17-year-olds in (i) 1997, (ii) 1998, (iii) 1999, and (iv) 2000.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 27 January 2002
	The information requested is in the table. Data for 2000–01 on unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have been supplied by the Home Office which now administers the grant.
	
		
			   LAs claiming UASC grant For under-16s only For over-16s only For both age groups 
		
		
			 1996–97 4(24) — — — 
			 1997–98 5(24) — — — 
			 1998–99 76 2 22 52 
			 1999–2000 106 4 23 79 
			 2000–01 108 — 14 94 
		
	
	(24) In 1996–97 and 1997–98 no distinction was made between age groups in terms of amounts claimable, so no separate figures are available.

Community Nurses

Debra Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many community nurses are employed in the West Midlands.

Yvette Cooper: Work force data do not show figures for community nurses separately. Figures for hospital and community nurses are shown in the table.
	
		NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff within the community nursing areas of work by qualification in the West Midlands regional office area as at 30 September 2000
		
			Whole-time equivalents Headcount 
		
		
			 All staff 7,460 9,890 
			 of which:   
			 Health Visitors 1,110 1,410 
			 District Nurses 1,400 1,740 
			
			 Other community nursing 4,950 6,740 
			 of which:   
			 Qualified 3,260 4,260 
			 Unqualified 1,690 2,490 
			
			 Community psychiatric 1,420 1,550 
			 of which:   
			 Qualified 1,180 1,270 
			 Unqualified 240 280 
			
			 Community learning difficulties 1,230 1,500 
			 of which:   
			 Qualified 590 670 
			 Unqualified 640 830 
			 Community services 2,310 3,700 
			 Of which:   
			 Qualified 1,490 2,320 
			 Unqualified 820 1,380 
		
	
	Notes:
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 10
	Figures exclude learners and agency staff
	Due to rounding totals may not equal the sum of component parts
	Source:
	Department of Health non-medical workforce census

Nursing Home Fees

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessments he has made of the compliance of the Review Panels to be established in order to adjudicate on the liability under Coughlan v. North Devon Health Authority, C.A. 1999 of a patient's property to be charged to pay for nursing home fees under Department of Health circular HSC 2001/015:LAC(2001)18 of 28 June, 2001 with Article VI of the Human Rights Act in (a) composition and (b) independence.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 18 December 2001
	Counsel's view was sought before Health Service Circular 2001/015: Local Authority Circular (2001)18 was released, including compliance with the Human Rights Act 2000. Article 6 requires that in the determination of a person's civil rights and obligations there should be a fair and independent decision making process. A decision about whether someone is entitled to particular national health service services or particular local authority services is not considered to be a determination of a civil right within the meaning of article 6.
	The question of whether a patient's property can be set against charges for nursing home fees is not a function of review panels.
	The issue of nursing home fees is discussed in HSC 2001/17:LAC(2001)26 "Guidance on free nursing care in nursing homes" issued on 25 September 2001.
	Neither the free nursing care nor the continuing care guidance deals with issues of whether the value of a patient's property should be included in the means test when assessing an individual's contribution towards the cost of nursing home fees. The relevant guidance, regarding local councils contribution to the costs of accommodation and board, is in the charges for residential accommodation guidance, which is underpinned by National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992, regulation 25. Some of these decisions have to comply with article 6 of the Human Rights Act, and in these cases the complaints panel should be independent of the council.

NHS Appointments

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people who have been appointed to a position within the NHS by the NHS Appointments Commission have declared a political interest, broken down by political parties; and what proportion of the total number of appointees this represents for each political party;
	(2)  how many people who have been appointed to a position within the NHS by the NHS Appointments Commission have declared a party political interest;
	(3)  how many appointments to positions and bodies within the NHS the NHS Appointments Commission has made since its inception.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 8 January 2002
	Since its establishment on 1 April 2001 the National Health Service Appointments Commission has made 608 appointments to 313 bodies. 218 of those appointed had declared political activity in the previous five years. The breakdown by political party is given in the table, both under the Commission, and in relation to appointments made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State immediately before the Commission was established.
	
		Appointments made by the Secretary of State to NHS trusts, health authorities and primary care trusts as at 31 March 2001 according to declaration on political activity
		
			  Number Percentage 
		
		
			 Conservative 153 4.0 
			 Independent 38 1.0 
			 Labour 823 21.5 
			 Liberal Democrat 123 3.2 
			 Other 19 0.5 
			 No political activity declared 2,671 69.8 
			  
			 Total 3,827 100 
		
	
	
		Appointments made by the NHS Appointments Commission to NHS trusts, health authorities and primary care trusts, as at 10 January 2002 according to declaration on political activity
		
			  Number Percentage 
		
		
			 Conservative 30 4.9 
			 Independent 9 1.5 
			 Labour 143 23.5 
			 Liberal Democrat 33 5.4 
			 Other 3 0.5 
			 No political activity declared 390 64.2 
			  
			 Total 608 100

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to consult the (a) retiring and (b) incoming chairmen of the Worcestershire acute hospitals NHS trust on their preferred date for the transfer of their responsibilities; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 9 January 2002
	Other than setting the criteria according to which appointments are made, Ministers no longer have any direct role in the appointments process for chairs of national health service trusts. The NHS Appointments Commission now has responsibility for the appointment, training and appraisal of chairs and non-executive board members of NHS trusts, health authorities and primary care trusts.

Health Action Zones

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been invested in health action zones by the NHS in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: There are 26 Health Action Zones (HAZs) based in the most deprived areas of the country. Since their inception in 1998 up to the end of the 2001–02 financial year HAZs have received total direct funding of £274.2 million to tackle issues including smoking cessation and drug misuse. Health authorities in HAZ areas have also received £101.8 million Health Inequalities Adjustment funding (HIA).
	The table shows the HAZ and HIA funding for 1998 to 2001.
	
		£ million 
		
			  Core funding(25) Targeted funding Health inequalities adjustment Total 
		
		
			 1998–99 7.5 — — 7.5 
			 1999–2000 56.5 30 — 86.5 
			 2000–01 59.5 60 — 119.5 
			 2001–02 60.8 — 101.8 162.6 
			  
			 Total 184.3 90 101.8 376.1 
		
	
	(25) Includes smoking cessation and drug misuse moneys
	Note:
	Figures have been rounded

Insurance

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by NHS bodies on insurance in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: Information about expenditure on insurance by national health service bodies is not centrally collected by the Department.
	The risk pooling scheme for trusts (RPST) was introduced in April 1999 as an alternative to purchasing commercial insurance for non-clinical risks, other than motor vehicle insurance. More than 90 per cent. of NHS trusts are involved in the scheme. The figures show the net amounts contributed to the pool by trusts between 1999 and 2003:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1999–2000 12.3 
			 2000–01 17.3 
			 2001–02(26) 9.1 
			 2002–03(26) 8.3 
		
	
	(26) Outstanding amounts left in the pool are rebated two years in arrears. Therefore the 2001–02 figure reflects a rebate of £10.4 million left over from 1999–2000 and the 2002–03 figure reflects a rebate of £12.3 million left over from 2000–01.

Segregated Ablutions

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of trusts have failed to provide segregated washing and toilet facilities for patients.

Hazel Blears: The target date for the provision of segregated washing and toilet facilities for patients is December 2002. National health service trusts are taking action, including construction schemes, to achieve this target and a report will be made at that time.

Blood Donors

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people gave blood in Buckinghamshire in each financial year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: Figures received from the National Blood Service show that the number of blood donors in Buckinghamshire in each financial year since 1997 is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Financial year Number of donors(27) Donations collected 
		
		
			 1997–98 (28)— (28)— 
			 1998–99 (28)— 35,378 
			 1999–2000 28,137 36,331 
			 2000–01 26,901 33,630 
			 2001–02 25,970 (29)24,905 
		
	
	(27) Donor numbers taken at the mid-year point
	(28) Unavailable
	(29) To date

Out-patients

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many out-patients were waiting for treatment between (a) 0 and 12 weeks, (b) 13 and 25 weeks and (c) over 26 weeks in the Portsmouth hospitals trust areas in (i) 1997, (ii) 1998, (iii) 1999, (iv) 2000 and (vi) 2001.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 16 January 2002
	Information is not collected centrally on out-patients waiting for between 0 and 12 weeks. Information in the table relates to Quarter two figures for the years 1997 to 2001.
	
		Portsmouth hospitals trust out-patients waiting times
		
			  Quarter 2 figures Not seen 13 to 25 weeks Not seen 26 weeks plus 
		
		
			 1997 2,273 793 
			 1998 2,441 861 
			 1999 3,185 753 
			 2000 4,748 1,274 
			 2001 4,231 1,249 
		
	
	Note:
	The large increase between 1999 and 2000 is the result of incorrect counting procedures. This was picked up by Portsmouth hospitals trust and is now reporting in line with NHS Executive (south-east regional office) guidance.

Delayed Discharges

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were waiting to leave hospital who were delayed by lack of availability of social services beds in (a) September 2001, (b) October 2001, (c) November 2001 and (d) December 2001 broken down by local authority; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: Information is collected centrally on a quarterly basis and is collected on the basis of health authority. Reasons for delay are collected on the basis of "awaiting public funding" and "awaiting care home placement". The second group includes those who are not social services' responsibility. The information available for September 2001 has been placed in the Library—the information for December 2001 is not yet available.
	In October 2001 we announced the investment of an additional £300 million over this year and next as part of a radical 'cash for change' programme. This funding has gone to councils to enable them to reduce delayed discharges and targeted on the areas with the most severe problems. We are already seeing reductions in delayed discharge as a result of the funding.

Dentistry

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists (a) are registered and (b) were registered as providing NHS dental treatment (i) in Enfield and (ii) in Haringey in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: The number of principal dentists on Enfield and Haringey health authority's list who carry out the majority of their general dental service (GDS) work in that HA area is shown in the table for September in the years 1997 to 2000. Data are also shown for 31 March 2001, the day before the HA was merged with Barnet HA. The total number of GDS dentists is also included in the table.
	Separate information for Enfield and Haringey is not available.
	Between 1 April 2001 and 30 September 2001 the number of GDS dentists in Barnet, Enfield and Haringey HA increased from 370 to 377 dentists.
	
		General dental service: principal dentists and total number of -- dentists, 1997 to 2001
		
			 Enfield and Haringey health authority(30) Principal dentists All GDS dentists(31) 
		
		
			 September 1997 184 194 
			 September 1998 188 198 
			 September 1999 189 205 
			 September 2000 192 209 
			 March 2001 198 213 
		
	
	(30) Dentists who do the majority of their work in Enfield and Haringey HA. Excludes dentists in the Enfield and Haringey HA area who do most of their work in other HAs.
	(31) All GDS dentists cover principal dentists on the health authority list, their assistants and vocational dental practitioners.

Dentistry

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what notice dentists are required to give patients of the termination of the availability of NHS treatment; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Dentists, as independent contractors, can decide whether or not to accept patients for national health service care and treatment under a continuing care arrangement (for patients over-18 years of age) or under a capitation arrangement (for those under-18).
	If a dentist decides to withdraw NHS care arrangements, under the terms of service he has the right to terminate these arrangements, provided that he gives the patients three months notice, in writing, and uses his best endeavours to complete any outstanding treatment, before the arrangements come to an end. He must also notify the health authority accordingly and give details of any care and treatment which he has agreed to provide and which is outstanding, including any arrangements made for completion of that care and treatment.
	If a dentist wishes to terminate an arrangement with less than three months notice, he must apply to the HA setting out the reasons and asking the HA to terminate the arrangement. A dentist may ask the HA to terminate the arrangement immediately in the case of violent patients.

Dentistry

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are in place to assist patients to register with an NHS dentist; what support is provided where a local dentist is not available; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: We are committed to ensuring that national health service dentistry is available to all who want it through registration with an NHS dentist or via NHS Direct. In supporting this commitment we have invested over £100 million in the last two years. Significant resources have been invested in personal dental service pilots to improve access to NHS dentistry in areas with significant problems.
	Registration can play an important role in promoting oral health through strengthening the relationship between patient and dentist. However, many people do not visit a dentist regularly. The systems are now in place for NHS Direct to advise patients in all parts of the country on where they can find a NHS dentist, within locally defined time and distance standards.

Dentistry

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many NHS registered dentists there were in the Buckinghamshire health authority area in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many dental practices in the Buckingham constituency (a) closed and (b) opened in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: The total number of dentists and principals in Buckinghamshire health authority 1997 to 2001 are shown in the table.
	
		General dental service: Total number of dentists and principals in Buckinghamshire health authority, 1997–2001
		
			   Of which: 
			 At 30 September each year All GDS dentists Principal dentists 
		
		
			 1997 265 248 
			 1998 260 246 
			 1999 281 262 
			 2000 272 252 
			 2001 294 273 
		
	
	(32) Dentists who do the majority of their work in Buckinghamshire HA. Excludes dentists in Buckinghamshire HA area who do most of their work in other HAs.
	(33) All GDS dentists covers principal dentists who are on the HA's list, their assistants and vocational dental practitioners.
	In addition two Personal Dental Services schemes have commenced since 1997. The number of dentists were as follows:
	
		
			   Of which: 
			 September each year Number of dentists also worked in the GDS 
		
		
			 1999 13 2 
			 2000 18 3 
			 2001 27 3 
		
	
	The number of dental practices in Buckinghamshire health authority that (a) closed and (b) opened is shown in the table for the years 1997 to 2000 and for January to September 2001. This information is not available by parliamentary constituency.
	
		Number of dental practices that have closed and opened in Buckinghamshire health authority 1997–2001
		
			  (a) Practice closed (b) Practice opened 
		
		
			 1997 4 8 
			 1998 5 9 
			 1999 3 4 
			 2000 6 10 
			 2001 (up to end September) — — 
		
	
	(34) Data cover the General Dental Service and Personal Dental Service

Dentistry

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in Dorset were registered with an NHS dentist in April (a) 1991, (b) 1996, (c) 1997 and (d) 2001.

Hazel Blears: The table shows the number of adults and children registered with a general dental service dentist in Dorset health authority for each of the years 1996, 1997 and 2001.
	Comparable data for 1991 are not available as registrations were only introduced in October 1990 and registration numbers had not yet had time to reach consistent levels.
	In September 1996, the registration period for new adult and child registrations was shortened to 15 months. Previously adult registrations lasted for 24 months and child registrations expired at the end of the following calendar year. This affected registration numbers from December 1997 onwards.
	Some people who are not registered with a dentist choose to attend occasionally.
	
		General dental service: number of adult and child registrations -- Dorset HA
		
			 30 April each year Adults Children Total 
		
		
			 1996 304,958 99,921 404,879 
			 1997 294,422 99,667 394,089 
			 2001(35) 271,711 102,348 374,059 
		
	
	(35) Figures affected by the change in the registration periods to 15 months

Dentistry

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in Dorset were taking new adult NHS patients in each of the years between 1991 and 2000 for which information is available.

Hazel Blears: The number of general dental service dentists taking new adult patients for national health service treatment in Dorset health authority are estimated to be around 88 in 1999 and around 92 in 2000. These figures are estimates for November of each year, and are based on the number of dentists meeting certain registration criteria (including a minimum level for new adult registrations).
	These estimates are not available for years prior to 1999.

Health Authority Allocations

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state in respect of (a) Buckinghamshire health authority, (b) Oxfordshire health authority and (c) Berkshire health authority, (i) their allocations from his Department for 2002–03 and (ii) the amount by which these allocations differ from their national level if they were funded in accordance with his Department's weighted-capitation funding formula.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 21 January 2002
	The 2002–03 allocations and the amounts each health authority are under their targets determined by the weighted capitation formula are shown in the table.
	
		£ million 
		
			 Health authority 2002–03 allocation 2002–03 distances from targets 
		
		
			 Buckinghamshire 493.96 -12.20 
			 Oxfordshire 445.46 -8.88 
			 Berkshire 588.57 -23.16

Pulmonary Disease

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will make it his policy to collect statistics for the number of patients in each health authority area with chronic pulmonary illnesses;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the prevalence of disability owing to chronic respiratory disease.

Jacqui Smith: Information on the incidence of individual conditions is not routinely collected centrally. We consider that it would not be cost effective to do this, due to the many conditions involved and the large investment in manpower and other resources that would be required to collect, maintain and update this type of statistical information.
	In 1999, however, the Department commissioned the Wessex Institute for Health Research and Development to produce a report on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The report estimated that, in a typical health authority of 500,000 people, around 3,000 in the 45 plus age group would have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
	No estimates have been made on the prevalence of disability although the Government do recognise that lung disease can be very debilitating.
	Figures from the Office for National Statistics for causes of death show that, in 1999, around 150,000 people died from respiratory disease.

Health Care (Gloucestershire)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the number of delayed discharges at hospitals in Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 22 January 2002
	The Gloucestershire Health Community has been working closely with Gloucestershire county council social services and the independent sector in order to reduce the number of patients who although fit to be discharged from hospital are still occupying an acute bed. Since July local information shows the average number of patients waiting for discharge has declined from 109 to 47 on 20 January.
	The national health service regional office and social care region are closely monitoring the action being taken in Gloucestershire to reduce delayed discharges.

Health Care (Gloucestershire)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the anticipated impact on Gloucestershire of the structural reforms proposed for the NHS.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 22 January 2002
	The structural reforms proposed for the national health service will mean that as from April 2002, primary care trusts will be responsible for securing services, improving health and integrating health and social care in their areas. PCTs are local organisations led by clinicians and local people. They will work with partners from the local community to ensure that the local health service is responsive to local needs and best represents the needs of patients. By 2004, PCTs will receive 75 per cent. of the NHS budget to help them achieve their new agenda. All three PCTs in Gloucestershire will be located within the newly created Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire health authority, an organisation which will help to develop and performance manage the health service within its borders.

Health Care (Gloucestershire)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the availability of carers in Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 22 January 2002
	Gloucestershire county council have the statutory duty to provide home care in that county.
	The most recent statistics on domiciliary staff numbers employed by Gloucestershire county council returned to the Department, for the year 2000, are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Home/domiciliary care/help organizers 58 
			 Assistant and trainee home care/help organizers 16 
			 Home care staff/home helps 561 
		
	
	Councils generally provide a significant proportion of their home care by contracting private and voluntary sector agencies. Central data on the level of this provision are not kept.

Health Care (Gloucestershire)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of shortages of (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) scientific staff in the NHS in Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 22 January 2002
	Information on the number of vacancies at national health service trusts within Gloucestershire health authority in March 2001 that had been unfilled for more than three months are given in the table.
	
		Vacancies in NHS trusts in Gloucestershire HA, all staff groups, -- three month vacancies(36) for total of each group
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Medical and dental staff 0 
			 Total consultants 0 
			 Other doctor and dentists (excluding training grades) 0 
			 Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 50 
			 Qualified Allied Health Professionals 10 
		
	
	(36) Three month vacancies are vacancies as at 31 March 2001 which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (whole-time equivalents).
	Notes:
	1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.
	2. Qualified Allied Health Professionals includes qualified staff from the following occupational groups: chiropody, dietetics, occupational therapy, orthoptics/optics, physiotherapy, diagnostic and therapeutic radiography.
	Source:
	Department of Health Vacancies Survey 2001

Health Care (Gloucestershire)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) nursing home and (b) residential care home places there were (i) in May 1997 and (ii) at the latest date for which figures are available, in Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 22 January 2002
	The table shows the number of registered nursing beds in nursing homes, private hospitals and clinics and the number of places in residential care homes in Gloucestershire in 1997 and 2001.
	
		Number of nursing beds and residential places(37) in Gloucestershire, 1997 and 2001—as at 31 March
		
			   Nursing care(37),(38) Residential care Total care beds 
		
		
			 1997 4,047 3,737 7,784 
			 2001 3,064 4,241 7,305 
		
	
	(37) Excludes places in childrens' homes
	(38) Registered beds in general and mental nursing homes, private hospitals and clinics.
	(39) Information for registered nursing beds for 1997 relates to the period 1 October 1996 to 31 March 1997.
	Source:
	Department of Health Annual Statistical returns

Health Care (Gloucestershire)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) nurses and (b) doctors were employed in the NHS in Gloucestershire (i) in May 1997 and (ii) at the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 22 January 2002
	The numbers of doctors and nurses employed in the national health service in Gloucestershire are shown in the table and show a 13.8 per cent. rise in the number of doctors and 2 per cent. rise in the number of nurses employed in the NHS in Gloucestershire between September 1997 and September 2000.
	
		NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): medical and dental staff(40), general medical practitioners(41) and nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff in Gloucestershire health authority each year as at 30 September -- Headcount
		
			  1997 2000 
		
		
			 Gloucestershire HA   
			 All doctors 870 980 
			 of which:   
			 HCHS doctors 500 610 
			 Practitioners (excluding GP retainers) 360 380 
			
			 All nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 5,420 5,530 
			 of which:   
			 Qualified 3,360 3,590 
			 Unqualified 1,830 1,720 
			 Practice nurses 230 220 
		
	
	(40) Figures exclude medical hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are also GPs working part time in hospitals.
	(41) All practitioners (excluding GP retainers) include UPEs, restricted principals, assistants, GP registrars, salaried doctors (para. 52 SFA) and PMS others. GP retainers were collected for the first time in 1999, in 2000 there were 1,117 in England, 224 in South West RO and 44 in Gloucestershire HA.
	Notes:
	1. Due to the new regional office boundaries in 1999 the 1997 figures are an estimated regional split.
	2. Figures exclude learners and agency staff.
	3. Due to rounding totals may not equal the sum of component parts.
	4. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	Sources:
	Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce Census.
	Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.
	Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census.

Oncology Unit, Cheltenham General Hospital

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the average time waited on the day for their treatment by out-patients at the oncology unit at Cheltenham General Hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 22 January 2002
	The information requested is not available centrally.

Crawley and Redhill Hospitals

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the emergency closure of the accident and emergency department at Crawley and Redhill hospitals effective from 21 January.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 24 January 2002
	The accident and emergency departments in the Surrey and Sussex healthcare national health service trust were not closed to emergency cases.
	Emergency cases where paramedics determined that the patient should be treated at the nearest accident and emergency department were accepted as were all patients self referring to the accident and emergency departments. Diversion arrangements were made for neighbouring hospitals to take other urgent (but not emergency) cases.

Class A Drugs

Nick Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths were caused by the use of (a) ecstasy, (b) cocaine and (c) heroin in the last 12 months; what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of deaths caused by the use of class A drugs; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 24 January 2002
	The latest year for which figures are available is 1999. The number of deaths in England and Wales where ecstasy, cocaine and heroin/morphine was mentioned on the death certificate, with or without other substances, are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 MDMA/Ecstasy 26 
			 Cocaine 88 
			 Heroin/Morphine(42) 754 
		
	
	(42) As heroin breaks down in the body into morphine, the latter may be detected at post mortem and recorded on the death certificate.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics database of deaths from drug related poisonings
	In November 2001 we launched our action plan to prevent drug-related deaths which aims, by promoting practical measures such as resuscitation training for drug users and harm reduction training for drug treatment staff, to reduce the number of these deaths. A press release was issued at launch, reference 2001/0543, and can be found on the Department's website.

Postponed Operations

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations were postponed in South Tyneside in (a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001.

Jacqui Smith: The number of operations postponed in South Tyneside in 1999, 2000 and 2001 is shown in the table.
	
		
			   1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 Number of elective operations 12,044 13,024 13,595 
			 Number of operations postponed 41 53 75

Diabetes

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what scientific advice he has received on the relative merits of (a) cell research and (b) the further development of pharmaceutical products in developing a cure for type 1 diabetes.

Jacqui Smith: We have received no advice on the relative merits of cell research and the further development of pharmaceutical products in developing a cure for Type 1 diabetes. The Human Genetics Commission provides us with strategic advice on developments in human genetics and their social and ethical implications. To date, the Commission has given no advice relevant to cell research and diabetes. The Gene Therapy Advisory Committee has received no proposals for gene therapy research relating to diabetes and none is expected at present. We will, however, continue to monitor developments with interest.

Diabetes

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice his Department provides to primary care trusts and other health bodies on screening vulnerable individuals for early signs of the onset of diabetes.

Jacqui Smith: We have asked the UK National Screening Committee to assess the benefits and disbenefits of screening for Type 2 diabetes. The Committee has decided that further research, which may require some complex studies, is needed to inform its advice. It will report to the Department in 2005.

Diabetes

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have (a) Type I and (b) Type II diabetes; and what research his Department has (i) commissioned and (ii) evaluated on (A) the costs to the health service of diabetic care, (B) the numbers of undiagnosed diabetics and (C) the costs and benefits of a high risk screening programme for Type II diabetes.

Jacqui Smith: An estimated 1.3 million people in England have diagnosed diabetes, of whom around 15 per cent. have Type 1 diabetes and around 85 per cent. have Type 2 diabetes. In addition, as many as 1 million people may have Type 2 diabetes without yet knowing it. Around 5 per cent. of total national health service resources is used for the care of people with diabetes. We see bringing clarity to the question of screening for Type 2 diabetes as a priority. We have asked the United Kingdom National Screening Committee to assess the benefits and disbenefits. The committee will make recommendations in 2005.

Lymington Community Hospital

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when construction of the new Lymington community hospital will (a) start and (b) be completed; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding answer 24 January 2002
	New Forest primary care trust, which manages Lymington hospital, has been actively working on plans for a new hospital which are now very advanced. The PCT intends to submit an outline business case to the south-east regional office of the Department of Health in February 2002 seeking approval to proceed with the detail design and build of the new hospital.

Social Services

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the Government's funding of social services in Gloucestershire, with particular reference to disabled people.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 24 January 2002
	Gloucestershire's Personal Social Services Standard Spending Assessment (PSS SSA) increases from £81.3 million for 2001–02 to £84.2 million for 2002–03, which is an increase of over 5 per cent. In addition, Gloucestershire will receive substantial increases in grants for social services. Their carers grant will increase by 21 per cent. Their building capacity and deferred payment grant will double. Their children's services grant will increase by 13 per cent.
	It is for Gloucestershire city council to decide how much of its PSS SSA to use for services for disabled people.

Road Traffic (NHS Charges) Amendment Regulations

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what representations he has had from insurance companies about the introduction of the Road Traffic (NHS Charges) Amendment Regulations 2001; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions he had with insurance companies before introducing the Road Traffic (NHS Charges) Amendment Regulations 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 24 January 2002
	The Department advised the Association of British Insurers of planned increases under the provisions of the Road Traffic (NHS Charges) Act 1999 in the tariff and cap on 7 December 2001. Officials have since corresponded with the association on these matters and I understand a further approach has been made to me seeking to delay implementation. However the increased charges will not have an immediate impact as they will only apply to road traffic accidents happening on or after 28 January 2002. As the average time to settle the relevant insurance claims is around 18 months, the full effect of the increases will not occur until summer 2003.

Occupational Health Services

Michael Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people the Government's Chief Medical Officer estimates were covered by occupational health services in (a) 1975, (b) 1985, (c) 1995 and (d) the last year for which survey figures are available.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 25 January 2002
	The only estimates of occupational health provision the Department holds are taken from the 1993 Health and Safety Executive (HSE) contract research report "Occupational Health Provision at Work" (reference: 57/1993). The HSE has recently commissioned a new survey to assess the current level of usage of occupational health support among employers.

Ambulance Service

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the implications for the payment of ambulance staff of tri-service working with police and the fire service.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 25 January 2002
	The three invest to save projects in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Cleveland have been established to test the cost and operational effectiveness of joint ambulance, fire and police control rooms and a range of shared support facilities such as fleet management, information technology and accommodation.
	National health service ambulance trusts have the local freedom to vary the rates paid to their staff to take account of local circumstances, including the discretion to make local pay supplements.

Ambulance Service

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on pay and conditions of service for (a) ambulance technicians and (b) ambulance paramedics.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 25 January 2002
	The Ambulance Whitley Councils determine the pay for all ambulance staff on national terms and conditions. Negotiations on pay for 2002–03 will begin shortly.
	For the future we remain committed to working closely with unions, professional organisations and employers to introduce a new pay system that will offer staff working in the national health service a more attractive career structure and fairer pay.

Ambulance Service

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has for personal development for ambulance staff; and what monitoring occurs of ambulance trusts to ensure that they deliver these.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 25 January 2002
	Maintaining and extending the skills, potential and careers of national health service staff taking into account service developments and patient need in health and social care is a fundamental part of the NHS Plan and the Framework for Lifelong Learning for the NHS, "Working Together—Learning Together", copies of which are available in the Library or can be accessed on the DOH website: www.doh.gov.uk/lifelonglearning.
	In 2001–02 £20 million has been invested in the NHS via workforce development confederations to ensure that trusts, including ambulance trusts, have the capacity to deliver training effectively and to support them in meeting personal and professional development needs identified as a result of appraisal.
	The new strategic health authorities will monitor progress on implementing the lifelong learning framework targets, through mainstream performance management processes.

Ambulance Service

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will investigate the eight minute limit for emergency calls for the ambulance service, with special reference to congestion, road works and other restrictions to journeys.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 25 January 2002
	Standards, supported by evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness, have been set for ambulance responses to emergency and urgent ambulance calls. Current standards require that calls to people with potentially life- threatening illnesses and conditions should be responded to within eight minutes irrespective of location in 75 per cent. of cases. All other calls should be responded to within 14 minutes in urban areas and 19 minutes in rural areas in 95 per cent. of cases.
	Road conditions do have an impact on ambulance response times but clinical evidence suggests that achievement of the 75 per cent. standard could save 1,800 lives each year in people under 75 years of age suffering heart attacks.
	In March 2000, we recurrently invested an extra £21 million in the ambulance services to support the delivery of the 75 per cent. Category A eight minute target. This is being invested in more ambulance staff and front line vehicles.

Residential Care Homes

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds there were in residential care homes (a) in May 1997 and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available in (i) England, (ii) Kent and (iii) the Tonbridge and Malling constituency.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 25 January 2002
	The table shows the number of places in residential care homes in England and in the Kent area in 1997 and 2001. Information for Tonbridge and Malling constituency is not collected. Information relates to 31 March each year.
	
		Residential care places(43) in England and Kent, 1997 and 2001 -- As at 31 MarchRounded numbers
		
			  (i) England (ii) Kent(44) 
		
		
			 (a) 1997 338,100 16,000 
			 (b) 2001 341,200 15,900 
		
	
	(43) Excludes place in children's homes.
	(44) Information is presented for the county of Kent prior to local government re-organisation on 1 April 1998. Figures for 2001 therefore relate to the area corresponding to the unitary authority of Medway Towns and the county area of Kent.
	Source:
	Department of Health Annual Statistical returns

Day Centres

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timetable is for local authorities to deliver best value in terms of care, with specific reference to the management of day centres.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 25 January 2002
	Every council has to conduct best value reviews, which together must cover all their functions over the five year period ending 31 March 2005.

Electronic Medical Equipment

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the NHS in each of the last five years has been of compensation to patients and their families as result of adverse incidents involving the use of electronic medical equipment; and what contingencies the NHS is making for the next five years.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Information about clinical negligence claims involving the use of electronic medical equipment is not held centrally. The clinical negligence scheme for trusts is a global fund paid into on an on-going basis. It does not operate as a contingency fund for specific types of claim.

Private Hospitals

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of private hospitals have crash teams for the purpose of resuscitation.

John Hutton: holding answer 28 January 2002
	This information is not held centrally at present. However, when the National Care Standards Commission takes over from health authorities the regulation of private health care services on 1 April this year, it will compile a comprehensive national database about service providers and the facilities they offer.

Macular Degeneration

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has to reduce the number of age-related macular degeneration patients eligible for treatment (a) losing sight and (b) registering blind owing to a lack of regional availability of visudyne;
	(2)  what discussions his Department has held with representatives of (a) general practitioners, (b) primary care trusts, (c) health authorities and (d) ophthalmologists to discuss (i) the speed of referral for age-related macular degeneration patients eligible for treatment and (ii) the shortening of the treatment process;
	(3)  if he will issue guidance to primary care trusts on treatable age-related macular degeneration to increase referral speed to an ophthalmologist and the shortening of the treatment process;
	(4)  what plans he has to include screening for wet age-related macular degeneration as part of the regular sight test for the relevant age groups.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Research trials suggest that photodynamic therapy may be capable of arresting sight loss among certain patients with 'wet' age-related macular degeneration. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence is currently undertaking an appraisal of this treatment and will advise if it should be made generally available under the national health service. The NICE Appraisal Committee will meet on 7 March 2002 to produce draft guidance. The Appraisal Committee is to have a second meeting on 15 May and guidance to the NHS is expected in July 2002, providing there are no appeals.
	The Department has asked NHS bodies to continue with local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies where guidance from NICE is not available at the time the technology first became available. These arrangements should involve an assessment of all relevant factors including the available evidence on effect.
	We will consider any implications for primary and secondary eye care in the light of NICE's draft guidance.

Macular Degeneration

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of patients with age-related macular degeneration eligible for treatment who have (a) lost eye sight and (b) been registered blind since visudyne received regulatory approval;
	(2)  how many patients are eligible for photodynamic treatment for (a) wet and (b) dry age-related macular degeneration annually;
	(3)  what estimates he has made of the number of age-related macular degeneration patients eligible for treatment who have lost the sight of one eye before they visit an ophthalmologist.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 28 January 2002
	We are unable to estimate how many patients may benefit from photodynamic therapy until the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has completed its appraisal of the therapy. NICE's guidance is expected in July 2002.

Macular Degeneration

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were treated with photodynamic treatment for (a) wet and (b) dry age-related macular degeneration in the (i) NHS and (ii) private sector in the last year for which figures are available.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 28 January 2002
	In 2000–01 there were 3,317 finished consultant episodes coded "degeneration of macular and posterior pole" in the national health service. Currently it is generally accepted that only 'wet' macular degeneration is susceptible to treatment but we do not hold information on the extent of the use of visudyne in these treatments. The Department does not routinely collect information on operations carried out in the private sector.

Western General Hospital, Swindon

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 21 January 2002, Official Report, column 671W, on Western General hospital, Swindon, what hospital equipment is purchased (a) centrally and (b) by each trust; what budgetary controls he exercises over equipment purchases for new hospitals; what recent discussion he has had with the trust responsible for the new Swindon hospital about equipment purchases; and if he will make a statement about the procedure used to purchase the equipment for the Western General hospital at Swindon.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Equipment purchases are the responsibility of individual national health service trusts who are expected to obtain best value for money. The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency does however negotiate national contracts on behalf of the NHS where these contracts produce value for money and genuine savings. It is then up to each individual trust to purchase its own equipment according to its needs. The only recent example of centrally purchased equipment is that provided for cancer care funded from the New Opportunities Fund.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with Swindon and Marlborough NHS trust about equipment purchases. Approximately £8 million of public money has been made available for the purchase of equipment for the Great Western hospital, Swindon by the Swindon and Marlborough NHS trust. The procurement procedure for the equipment is a matter for the trust.

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the interim reply of 15 January 2002 (ref: PQ 4078/2001/2002), when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a substantive reply to his letter of 28 November 2001 (ref: POOO1146 (27311)).

Hazel Blears: I shall ensure that my hon. Friend receives a reply to his letter as soon as possible.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Acceptable Behaviour Contracts

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many acceptable behaviour contracts have been issued to date (a) in total and (b) in each crime and disorder partnership; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: holding answer 15 January 2002
	Figures for the number of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) are not held centrally as they are an informal measure, however we are aware that they are being used by many police forces and local authorities throughout the country. The Government recognise the effectiveness of this and other measures in turning round behaviour at the earliest opportunity and in our White Paper on police reform we encourage their widespread use and recognise the role that they can play in supporting the antisocial behaviour order process in preventing antisocial behaviour.

Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been detained under the internment provision of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001; on which day each was arrested; which have been appealed; what progress has been made in each appeal; and if he will make a statement.

David Blunkett: holding answer 22 January 2002
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 January 2002 to my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin), Official Report, column 350W.
	Appeals are proceeding in relation to each of those detained before the Special Immigration Appeal Commission. A directions hearing was held on 28 January and a substantive hearing will be set in due course.

Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those detained under the recent Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, indicating the reason why each one has been detained.

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many certificates he has issued using his powers under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001; if he will profile those persons detained by (a) country of origin, (b) nationality, (c) gender, (d) those over and under 18 years of age, (e) religious belief and (f) language spoken; and at what location detained persons have been held.

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been detained under Section 4 of the Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001; and how many remain detained.

David Blunkett: I refer my hon. Friends to the answer I gave on 16 January 2002 to my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin), Official Report, column 350W.
	Appeals are proceeding in relation to each of those detained before the Special Immigration Appeal Commission. A directions hearing was held on 28 January and a substantive hearing will be set in due course.

Errol Flynn

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to place in the Public Records Office (a) the MI5 files and (b) other records relating to Errol Flynn; and if he will make a statement.

David Blunkett: The Security Service systematically reviews and where appropriate releases historical records to the Public Record Office in accordance with the criteria agreed with them and endorsed by the Advisory Council.
	The Security Service has reviewed and released all archived files covering the First World War. Moving on to the Second World War, the second phase in its release programme, the service released in November 2001 its fourth tranche of files on the period up to the end of that war. The service is reviewing its inter-war records in preparation for further releases. It will then move on to the period after the Second World War. If there is any record about Errol Flynn, it will be reviewed as part of this process. The timing of this depends on the resources that the Service is able to devote to the process.
	The Home Office can find no other documents about Errol Flynn.

Probation Service

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if there will be a public sector comparator in respect of the tendering for Probation Service Facilities Management Services and if the details will be published; what the estimated costs are of the procurement process in respect of the tendering of Probation Service Facilities Management Services; whether there is a better quality services review in respect of the arrangements; whether the employee status of relevant Probation Service staff would change following successful tendering of these services; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: Although a public sector comparator is primarily used in Public Private Partnerships/Private Finance Initiative (PPP/PFI) type procurements, which Probation Services Facilities Management is not, it is planned to seek to use it to test whether any proposed contract represents good value for money. It is not planned to publish the details. The costs of the procurement process for tendering facilities management services is subsumed within the overall costs of arranging facilities and estates management services for the new national service and are therefore not separately identifiable. The principles of a better quality services review are being applied as appropriate. Should services currently provided by Probation Service staff in the future be provided by other organisations the Transfer of Undertakings Regulations (TUPE) would determine whether employee status would change. This would need to be assessed on an individual basis.

Probation Service

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the National Probation Service will put Probation Service Facilities Management Services out to tender; when the outline business case for tendering Probation Service Facilities Management Services was published; when the final business case for the tendering of Probation Facilities Management Services will be published; if he will place a copy in the Library; whether the notice for tendering Probation Facilities Management Services was placed in the Official Journal of the European Union; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: It is planned to put out to tender the National Probation Service's (NPS) facilities management functions in a phased manner between January 2002 and August 2002. The outline business case for the management of NPS property, which incorporated facilities management, has not been published and it is not normal practice to publish business cases or make them widely available during a procurement process. A notice for facilities management services was despatched on 27 November 2001 for placing in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Young Offenders

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what specialist (a) support and (b) therapy programmes are available for young offenders to help them address the underlying problems of their actions.

Beverley Hughes: Juveniles receiving final warnings or sentenced to community or custodial orders undergo rehabilitation programmes designed to address their offending behaviour and give them skills which will help them avoid getting into trouble again. The programmes include family support, treatment for alcohol and drugs abuse and assessment for mental health needs.
	For young adults the National Probation Service draws up supervision plans to address individuals' needs, including specialist counselling and support.

Community Orders

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the scope for increased use of community orders for young women who have committed non-violent crimes as their first offence.

Beverley Hughes: The Government believe that serious, dangerous and persistent offenders should be sent to prison. However, it may not be the best, or most effective, option for less serious offenders, whether men or women, who can often be better dealt with in the community. The Government believe that greater use should be made of community punishments for some non-violent offenders, such as those convicted of theft and handling or fraud.
	We are committed to seeing a reduction in the number of women who are sent to prison and to ensuring that the courts have available to them a full range of community punishments, designed using the what works principle, which are effective, strictly enforced and in which the courts and the public can have confidence.

Child Protection Policies

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library copies of the child protection policies operating at (a) Oakington, (b) Tinsley House, (c) Yarl's Wood, (d) Harmondsworth and (e) John Gavell immigration detention and reception centres.

Angela Eagle: I shall arrange for copies of the relevant documents to be placed in the Library.

Surrey Police

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason Surrey police receives the lowest per-capita grant.

John Denham: Grant for police authorities is distributed on the basis of a formula which is intended broadly to reflect the relative needs of police authorities.

Family Visitor Appeals

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reform the fee charges for family visitor appeals; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: We await the results of the review of family visitor appeals, which ends this month. We will consider the future of the scheme, including the fees, in the light of the review team's report.

Environmental Appraisals

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the last occasion was on which he requested an environmental appraisal before making a policy decision.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 21 January 2002
	To date no such request has been made. However, the Department's policy checklist states that policy proposals should be considered in relation to Government objectives on achieving sustainable development, and the standard format for policy submissions includes a section on environmental considerations.

EU Arrest Warrant

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the EU arrest warrant will be included in the Extradition Bill; when he expects the Bill to be published; whether the agreed text of the EU arrest warrant covers the offence of xenophobia; whether a United Kingdom citizen could be arrested under the EU arrest warrant for an alleged act which is not an offence under UK law; and whether the EU arrest warrant can be used to arrest a United Kingdom subject in the United Kingdom for an alleged offence committed from within the United Kingdom's boundaries.

Bob Ainsworth: The Government have made their commitment to an Extradition Bill clear, and it will be brought before the House in the usual way; the Bill will include provisions to implement the Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between member states.
	The text of this Framework Decision, which was provisionally agreed at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 6 December 2001, includes in the list at Article 2(2) for which the dual criminality test has been abolished, the generic heading of racism and xenophobia.
	In respect of any warrant, the offence for which surrender is sought will be framed by the issuing judicial authority under its national law. The generic headings listed at Article 2(2) relate to conduct for which there are criminal sanctions in all the member states of the European Union (EU), although the definitions of the offences do not match precisely. Where the issuing judicial authority includes an offence on the warrant which does not fall under one of the headings at 2(2), the dual criminality test may be applied by the executing judicial authority.
	Article 4(7) of the Framework Decision provides that the executing judicial authority may refuse to execute the European Arrest Warrant:
	"Where the European arrest warrant envisages offences which:
	(1) are regarded by the law of the executing member state as having been committed in whole or in part in its territory or in a place treated as the territory of that member state;
	(2) have been committed outside the territory of the issuing member state and the law of the executing member state does not allow prosecution for the same offences when committed outside the territory of the executing member state".
	The Framework Decision, therefore, contains protection against the surrender of a fugitive, of any nationality, from the United Kingdom for an alleged offence committed in the United Kingdom which is not an offence under our law. The Government's position will be finalised in the Extradition Bill.

EU Arrest Warrant

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the agreement reached on the EU arrest warrant.

Bob Ainsworth: At the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union on 6–7 December 2001 all member states bar Italy reached provisional agreement on the European arrest warrant; on 11 December, Italy indicated that it too could accept the text. Agreement was subject to national parliamentary scrutiny reservations entered or retained by five member states, including the United Kingdom (the others were Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland). The European Parliament is being reconsulted on the European arrest warrant, and the Council will need to consider its opinion, expected in February, before the European Arrest Warrant can be adopted.

CCTV

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 8 January 2002, Official Report, column 777W, on CCTV, how many applications have been received from schemes in the Buckingham constituency; and what was the outcome in each case.

John Denham: Two applications for funding have been received from the Buckingham constituency, both for the Buckingham Town Centre Close Circuit Television (CCTV) system.
	Under Round 2 of the CCTV Challenge Competition (1996–97), the Home Office provided part funding of £9,500 towards the installation of the system.
	Under Round 2 of the Crime Reduction Programme CCTV Initiative (2001), a bid seeking £151,045 to upgrade the system was not successful.

Crime Reduction

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 8 January 2002, Official Report, column 778W, what progress has been made in meeting the crime reduction target.

John Denham: National crime reduction targets are: to reduce vehicle crime by 30 per cent. by 2004, and, by 2005, to reduce domestic burglary by 25 per cent, and robbery in our principal cities by 14 per cent.
	The latest published recorded crime statistics show that in the 12 months to March 2001, thefts of and from vehicles had reduced to 968,447 offences, a reduction of 10.1 per cent. against the 1998–99 baseline; domestic burglary had reduced to 402,984, a reduction of 14.9 per cent; but robbery had increased to 68,447, a rise of 13 per cent.
	We remain determined to reduce robbery rates, and the 12 month increase is half the 26 per cent. rise in the previous year. The robbery figures relate to the following police forces: Metropolitan Police Service, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, West Midlands and West Yorkshire.

Crime (Gwent)

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were recorded by Gwent Police in (a) 1998, (b) 1999, (c) 2000 and (d) 2001 as (i) violent crime, (ii) burglary, (iii) thefts of vehicles, (iv) thefts from vehicles, (v) drug offences and (vi) total crime; and what the percentage of each change was each year.

John Denham: Recorded crime figures are published in financial years, with the most recent available figures being for the year ended March 2001. The information for the years from 1 April 1998 is given in the table.
	The number of recorded crimes will be affected by changes in the public's willingness to report crime and police recording practices, as well as the real extent of crime. For example, the British Crime Survey has shown that, in England and Wales as a whole, victimisation for the violent crime in the survey which is comparable to recorded crime decreased by 19 per cent. between the 1999 and 2000 calendar years, whereas comparable violent crime recorded by the police increased by 9 per cent.
	
		Recorded crimes for Gwent—number of offences and percentage change
		
			  Percentage change  
			  1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 1998–99 to 1999–2000 1999–2000 to 2000–01 
		
		
			 Violent crime 11,980 14,493 14,882 21 3 
			 Burglary 8,416 7,656 6,905 -9 -10 
			 Theft from vehicle 6,145 5,714 5,035 -7 -12 
			 Theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicle 3,601 3,393 3,074 -6 -9 
			 Drug offences 2,447 2,214 2,196 -10 -1 
			  
			 Total recorded crime 58,738 60,132 56,728 2 -6 
		
	
	Note:
	Violent crime is comprised of violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery

Police (Gwent)

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many whole-time equivalent police officers were employed by Gwent police in (a) 1998, (b) 1999, (c) 2000 and (d) 2001; and what the percentage change was in each year.

John Denham: The information requested is set out in the table. The latest increases in Gwent police numbers have taken the force to record numbers of officers.
	
		
			 Year ending 30 September Police officers (Fte)(45) Percentage change 
		
		
			 1998 1,254 — 
			 1999 1,261 +0.6 
			 2000 1,271 +0.8 
			 2001 1,303 +2.5 
		
	
	(45) Full time equivalents
	Source:
	Home Office

Community Resource Fund

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment has been made by the Government of the cost to the taxpayer of operating the (a) Community Resource Fund and (b) neighbourhood renewal community chests;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the Community Resource Fund; and how much money has been distributed through the fund to voluntary and community organisations;
	(3)  what assessment has been made by the Government of the administrative requirements on voluntary and community organisations applying to the Community Resource Fund.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 24 January 2002
	The Community Resource Fund was launched in 1999 as a three-year pilot small grants fund, with the purpose of making grants of between £50 and £500 to support community activity in areas of serious deprivation. This was a direct response to recommendation 20 in the Policy Action Team 9 report, on community self-help, where it was recognised that small sums of money with simple application procedures and a rapid response could have a substantial beneficial effect on local groups.
	The fund has been managed for the Active Community Unit (ACU) by the Community Development Foundation (CDF) and the Community Foundation Network CFN, and individual grants have been administered by local community foundations in 30 deprived neighbourhoods.
	The total grant made to the Community Development Foundation CDF in 1999–2000 and 2000–01 was £338,000, of which £308,000 was paid in small grants to local community groups, and £30,000 was allocated to cover operating costs. In the current year, it has been agreed to make a grant to CDF of £168,000, of which £72,000 will be distributed to local community groups, approximately £7,000 will be allocated in direct operating costs, and approximately £69,000 has been allocated to a research project into the alternative approaches to involving local residents in decision-making on small grants.
	The cost of operating the Community Resource Fund over three years will have been £42,000, plus a small allocation of staff time within the ACU.
	The application process for the Community Resource Fund was designed to be as simple as possible, drawing on the extensive experience of the two voluntary organisations managing the fund. Some improvements to lighten the administrative requirements on applicants were made as a result of the evaluation of year one of the Fund.
	The cost of operating the neighbourhood renewal community chests at local level will not exceed £7.5 million (out of a total allocation of £50 million, of which a maximum of £5 million (10 per cent.) will be spent on administration, and £2.5 million (5 per cent.) on outreach and development support. Some further cost will be incurred by staff in the neighbourhood renewal unit, and the Government offices for the regions, particularly on setting up the programme, but it is not possible to arrive at an accurate figure at short notice.

Community Resource Fund

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications have been made to the Community Resource Fund; and how many of these were successful.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 24 January 2002
	The number of applications made to the Community Resource Fund is 815 for years one and two. This equates to 426 in year one and 389 in year two. Out of these applications, 305 were granted in year one, and 254 were granted in year two. The average grant was £450. The Fund has been managed for the active community unit by the Community Development Foundation and the Community Foundation Network and individual grants have been administered by local community foundations in 30 deprived neighbourhoods.

Drug Action Teams

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will inform drug action teams of their financial allocations for 2002–03.

Bob Ainsworth: I will write shortly to the Member for Epsom and Ewell and place a copy of the reply in the Library.
	Drug Action Teams (DATs) receive funding from a variety of sources. The Spending Review 2000 (SR2000) settlement provided a total of £185 million for the year 2002–03 for the delivery of the National Drugs Strategy. In addition, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a total of £235 million—£220 million (£50 million/ £70 million/£100 million) to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships and £15 million (£5 million/ £5 million/£5 million) direct to Drug Action Teams for the Communities Against Drugs Initiative (a three year programme running from 2001–04 to help local communities disrupt local drug markets and tackle drug related crime and the antisocial behaviour so often associated with it. Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have to agree with Drug Action Teams how best to spend their allocation.
	The detail of the SR2000 for 2002–03 allocations were published as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
		
		
			 Young people 29 
			 Communities 29 
			 Treatment 120 
		
	
	The allocations for Communities Against Drugs to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships will be announced shortly. We have communicated to Drug Action Teams the Home Office share of the treatment allocations which are due to them. Other treatment allocations are a matter for the Secretary of State for Health and the National Treatment Agency. We understand an announcement for the pooled treatment allocations will be made shortly.
	On 7 November, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills announced a further £25 million funding for three years (£7 million/£8 million/£10 million) from 2001–04. This was in addition to £7.5 million baseline for each of these years.
	In respect of other financial allocations to Drug Action Teams wrote to Drug Action Teams Chairs on 21 January setting out the terms of the DAT Development funding for 2002–03. Drug Action Team Co-ordinators were advised of their allocations of the £5 million for 2002–03 under the Communities Against Drugs Initiative on 24 January.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 22 October 2001 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. Aamir Akbar;
	(2)  when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 10 December 2001 from the Right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mrs. Azad Bakhat;
	(3)  when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 27 November 2001 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mrs. Faiza Bafadhez.

Angela Eagle: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary wrote to my right hon. Friend on 21 January. I am sorry that he did not receive an earlier reply.

Mobile Phone Theft

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he will bring forward to compel mobile telephony companies to track stolen handsets.

John Denham: holding answer 21 January 2002
	The Government are pressing the mobile phone industry to take a whole range of measures to enhance the security of their product and prevent their customers from becoming the victims of crime. The United Kingdom operators are already working with the police on exercises to track stolen phones. They have agreed some early measures to test ways of putting stolen phones out of action, including a text-bombing initiative. They have also agreed to improve security as investment takes place in new systems. We are seeking a similar commitment from mobile phone manufacturers. We will continue to press the industry for their co-operation in tackling mobile phone theft, by enhancing security features and practices for both the current and third generation mobile phones.
	It is already the case that communications data, including location data, may be supplied voluntarily for specified purposes (eg investigation of crime) under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Telecommunications Act 1984. It may additionally be supplied in obedience to court orders. A more tightly controlled regulatory regime will be provided for under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 RIPA.

Stop and Search

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research has been undertaken into technology required to enable officers to provide subjects of a stop and search with an immediate printed record of the incident; what information on this research is in the public domain; and what assessment he has made of the potential applications such technology will have for other aspects of police work.

John Denham: To date no research has been undertaken specifically on the technology required to enable police officers to issue subjects of stops and searches with an immediate printed record of the encounter.
	On 1 November 2001 my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary published an independent study entitled "Diary of a Police Officer", which considered what more could be done to free police officers from the unnecessary paperwork and other obstacles which prevent them from spending more time in public. Subsequently in the White Paper, "Policing a new Century" (CM 5326), published on 5 December 2001, my right hon. Friend announced the establishment of a task force, chaired by Sir David O'Dowd, to consider how to take forward the recommendations in this and other relevant reports, in order to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens on the police. The task force is considering the implementation of information technology as part of this project.

Baton Rounds

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 19 November 2001, Official Report, column 92W, on baton rounds, how many plastic baton rounds have been procured in each year since 1981 by each of the 36 police forces in England and Wales and three non-Home Office forces; and what the annual cost of such procurement for each force was.

John Denham: I have accepted the advice of the Association of Chief Police Officers that the disclosure of this information, on an individual force basis, would be prejudicial to operational effectiveness.
	23,090 baton rounds were purchased by Home Office and non-Home Office forces in 2000, at a total cost of £157,474; and 25,500 in 2001 at a total cost of £173,910. Information for previous years is not readily available.

Sustainable Development

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department met its aim of identifying departmental sustainable development indicators by December 2001.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 16 January 2002
	Yes. Fifteen key topics have been identified upon which the Department has an impact, and sustainable development indicators are being finalised. They will be in line with national indicators and cross-Government targets where these exist.

Racial Offences

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has undertaken into the operation of laws on race hate and racially aggravated offences; what the conclusions of this research are; what relevance this research has for consideration of a religious hate law; and if he will place research findings in the Library.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 23 January 2002
	We commissioned researchers from the Cambridge University Institute of Criminology to evaluate the implementation of the legislation on racially-aggravated offences as contained in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. This research explored the first two years of this legislation to find out how criminal justice agencies had responded in their use of these new laws, and in their practices and procedures. It is expected that the report will be published in the spring.
	This research was commissioned well in advance of the events of September 11 last year. It was these events that prompted our proposing the introduction of religious hatred provisions as part of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Bill.

Immigration Service Staff

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 12 December 2001, Official Report, column 922W, how many Immigration Service staff speak (a) Arabic, (b) Hindi, (c) Urdu, (d) Farsi or Dari and (e) Pushtu; how many persons of what grades are trained to speak each language; and how many translators have been employed for how many paid hours in each language; and at what cost.

Angela Eagle: Since September 2001 the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) has held a national database of all its interpreters. The database currently holds 473 Arabic speakers, 359 Hindi, 429 Urdu, 261 Farsi, 84 Dari and 64 Pushtu. No records are currently held centrally as to the amount of hours interpreters have worked in individual languages.
	Details of the languages spoken by immigration staff are not currently held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost. However, the Immigration Service is creating a database of training received and qualifications held by immigration service staff. The majority of interpreting and translation services for those in the care of the Immigration Service are largely provided by external translators.

Police (Hampshire)

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to provide funds to increase police numbers in Hampshire.

John Denham: Under the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) recruitment initiative, funds have been provided to enable Hampshire constabulary to recruit a total of 243 recruits, over and above the force's previous recruitment plans, for the three years to March 2003.
	Hampshire officers appointed since 1 September 1994 and not in receipt of housing allowances, benefit from a new allowance introduced 1 April 2001 for officers in eight forces around London, in view of the higher cost of living in those force areas. The allowance followed agreement in the Police Negotiating Board and for Hampshire officers is £1,000 a year. The Home Office meets 75 per cent. of the cost of the allowance for each qualifying officer.
	All police forces, including Hampshire, benefit from the national recruitment advertising campaign funded by the Home Office. The campaign was launched in August 2000 and the latest phase began on 1 January 2002.

Deportations

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken was from the refusal of asylum status and exceptional leave to remain to removal from the country in the last 12 months.

Angela Eagle: I regret that the information requested is not available and could be obtained only by examining individual case files at disproportionate cost.

Deportations

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the last three months airlines have refused to carry deportees; what reason was given in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: An airline may occasionally refuse to carry passengers refused entry, illegal entrants and those subject to formal deportation proceedings if it has concerns for the safety of their aircraft, crew and passengers. We are aware of a small number of incidents where airlines have refused to carry certain individuals because of concerns they have about their conduct when boarding the aircraft. Where there have been concerns, the United Kingdom Immigration Service has arranged for the individual to be escorted during the flight.
	On 11 January 2002, British Airways refused to remove a failed asylum seeker to Zimbabwe. Removal directions were temporarily suspended by the Home Office following representations from legal representatives.
	During a recent meeting with British Airways (BA), the Minister for Asylum and Immigration confirmed with BA that it was their concern for the safety of their aircraft, crew and passengers that prompted them to refuse to carry.

Asylum Appeals

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken between the receipt of asylum appeals by his Department and the final appeal decision in (a) all cases, (b) the cases of single asylum seekers and (c) family cases was in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Angela Eagle: For the 12 month period ending 30 September 2001 data from the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA), for those cases where data are available, indicates that the average time taken from receipt of an asylum appeal by the Home office to final determination through both tiers of the IAA is:
	(a) 26 weeks for all asylum appeals;
	(b) 25 weeks for non-family cases (the IAA do not hold data on single asylum seekers separately);
	(c) 27 weeks for family cases.

Asylum Appeals

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken was from lodging an asylum appeal with the Home Office to the final decision in each year since 1998.

Angela Eagle: For the 12-month period ending 30 September 2001, data from the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA), for those cases where data are available, indicates that the average time taken from receipt of an asylum appeal by the Home Office to final determination through both tiers of the IAA, is 26 weeks.
	Data are not available for the earlier periods.

Asylum Cases

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken was from initial application to the granting of an initial decision in asylum cases for (a) all cases, (b) single adults and (c) families in the last 12 months.

Angela Eagle: The table provides the information requested for the period of October 2000 to September 2001, inclusive. The average decision times have been calculated using all decisions made for which data are available, including a minimal number of cases decided under the backlog criteria, as well as new cases. These data are subject to revision following quality checking.
	
		Average time to initial decision(46),(47), October 2000 to September 2001
		
			  Average time taken(48) 
		
		
			 All initial decisions(49),(50) 14 
			   
			 Of which:  
			 Family 8 
			 Individual 14 
		
	
	(46) The average length of time (in months) is calculated from date application is lodged to the date of initial decision, and relates to the month in which the decisions were made.
	(47) Figures are estimates based on cases for which information is recorded.
	(48) Provisional figures.
	(49) Based on data from A-CID (Asylum Cases Information Database).
	(50) Excluding dependants.

Asylum Induction Centres

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the trial of asylum induction centres to begin; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: The first induction centre opened in Dover on 21 January. This introduced a number of the initiatives outlined by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary in October which are intended to deliver a more efficient and streamlined system for asylum seekers. Over the forthcoming weeks we will be developing the induction processes with a view to opening two further induction centres near London at the end of March.

Asylum Seekers

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recorded asylum seekers entered the United Kingdom in 2001 who were (a) under and (b) over 18 years.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 28 January 2002
	I regret that reliable information on the entry routes of asylum seekers, including when asylum seekers first enter the United Kingdom (UK), is not available. In 2000 more than two thirds of applications (68 per cent.) were made in-country (that is by people who had already entered the UK). Annual figures for 2001 are not yet available.
	Between January and August 2001, inclusive, 1,334 applications for asylum were lodged at UK ports by unaccompanied children under the age of 18. During the same period, it is estimated that over 16,000 applications were lodged at ports by principal applicants aged 18 or more.
	Information on unaccompanied minors is published annually in the statistical bulletin "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom", a copy of which is available in the Library, and from the RDS website: http:// www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum Seekers

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the countries of origin were of asylum seekers who entered the UK in 2001.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 28 January 2002
	I regret that reliable information on the entry routes of asylum seekers, including when asylum seekers first enter the United Kingdom, is not available. However, information on the nationality of asylum seekers who applied at port and in-country between January and September 2001, inclusive, is given in the table. Annual figures for 2001 are not yet available.
	Information on asylum applications and initial decisions is published quarterly. The next publication will present data for the final quarter of 2001, and will be available from 28 February 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		Applications(51) for asylum, received in the UK, excluding dependants, by nationality, January to September 2001, inclusive -- Number of principal applicants
		
			  Applied at port Applied in-country  Total 
		
		
			 Europe
			 Albania 140 715 855 
			 Czech Republic 750 60 810 
			 FRY(52) 155 1,420 1,575 
			 Poland 305 155 460 
			 Romania 125 920 1,045 
			 Russia 45 290 335 
			 Turkey 1,330 1,525 2,855 
			 Ukraine 79 265 340 
			 Other Former USSR 195 695 890 
			 Other Former Yugoslavia 45 1,440 1,485 
			 Others 105 135 240 
			 Total 3,270 7,615 10,890 
			 
			 Americas
			 Colombia 35 180 215 
			 Ecuador 20 145 165 
			 Others 110 260 370 
			 Total 165 585 750 
			 
			 Middle east
			 Iran 885 1,765 2,650 
			 Iraq 2,150 2,725 4,875 
			 Others 250 505 750 
			 Total 3,285 4,995 8,280 
			 Africa
			 Algeria 230 650 880 
			 Angola 140 570 715 
			 Democratic Republic of Congo 225 650 870 
			 Ethiopia 70 390 460 
			 Gambia 10 30 35 
			 Ghana 45 70 115 
			 Ivory Coast 35 170 205 
			 Kenya 45 165 210 
			 Nigeria 255 175 430 
			 Rwanda 60 345 405 
			 Sierra Leone 655 790 1,445 
			 Somalia 680 4,350 5,030 
			 Sudan 125 170 290 
			 Tanzania 15 45 60 
			 Uganda 35 270 305 
			 Zimbabwe 860 365 1,225 
			 Others 495 1,480 1,975 
			 Total 3,970 10,695 14,665 
			 
			 Asia
			 Afghanistan 4,165 2,650 6,815 
			 Bangladesh 80 250 330 
			 China 1,240 335 1,575 
			 India 300 980 1,275 
			 Pakistan 510 1,480 1,990 
			 Sri Lanka 2,110 1,930 4,035 
			 Others 280 635 915 
			 Total 8,685 8,255 16,940 
			 
			 Other and unknown nationalities 375 260 635 
			 Grant total 19,750 32,405 52,155 
		
	
	(51) Figures rounded to nearest five, and are provisional
	(52) Includes applications from other Yugo.

Asylum Seekers

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent advice he has received from Merseyside police concerning the future housing of asylum seekers at Landmark and Inn on the Park in Liverpool; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Ministers have received two recent letters from Merseyside police about the use of the Landmark and Inn on the Park buildings to house asylum seekers.
	Officials are looking into the matters raised in these letters, and in the meantime dispersal of asylum seekers to these buildings remains suspended.

Asylum White Paper

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with children's organisations on how the proposals in the forthcoming Asylum White Paper will impact on asylum seeking children and young people.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 25 January 2002
	Proposals relating to asylum seeking children were discussed at the last meeting of the Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children Stakeholders' Group on 10 January 2002. The Group comprises representatives from the Home Office, the Department of Health, local authorities, and non-governmental organisations including the Refugee Council and Save the Children.

Police Morale (Havering)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on police morale in the London borough of Havering.

John Denham: Morale within the Metropolitan Police Service is a matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. I am assured by the Commissioner that he takes action as a matter of routine to ensure that morale remains good.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many regulatory impact assessments have been produced by his Department since August 2001; and if he will list those produced (a) following initial consultation with affected parties about the most appropriate methodology for assessing costs and other impacts and (b) which set out full commercial impacts, including profitability, employment, consumer prices and competitiveness, as recommended in Good Policy Making.

Angela Eagle: Since August 2001 the Home Office has produced two regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) on the Proceeds of Crime Bill; and the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Bill. These RIAs are in the Library. One consultation paper has been issued since August 2001, the Motor Salvage Operators Regulations 2002, this contained a partial RIA. The consultation paper can be accessed via the Home Office website or www.ukonline.gov.uk/ citizenspace/consultations/.
	On the Proceeds of Crime, consultation took place after the publication of the draft Bill. This consultation helped us review the draft Bill and some of our proposals and costings were modified. No assessment of commercial impacts was made.
	No consultation with business was carried out before the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Bill was published. The RIA made it clear that many of the powers, with significant cost implications, would only be used should the need arise and a number of other measures would depend on the proposals to be covered in secondary legislation. Such secondary legislation will be developed in close consultation with the industry to ensure that there will be effective compliance with the measures proposed and that the costs of such compliance will be minimised.
	I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister to him on 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 483W.

Street Wardens

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations his Department has had with public and community representatives about the proposed introduction of street wardens; and what powers and authorities will be invested in street wardens in dealing with public order.

John Denham: The Policy Action Team 6 report "Neighbourhood Wardens", published in 1999, was drawn up following visits to a number of existing schemes.
	Proposals for new functions to be carried out by non-police officers were set out in "Policing a New Century" (CM5326), which included examples of similar schemes already in operation. The proposed new powers for Community Support Officers under the control of the Chief Officer of Police, or for members of Accredited Community Safety Schemes employed by others, are set out in the Police Reform Bill.

Cannabis

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what date he expects the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to report on the reclassification of cannabis; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 28 January 2002
	I understand that the council hopes to report soon.

Heroin

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances GPs are allowed to prescribe heroin to addicts; what plans he has to change circumstances under which addicts can be prescribed heroin (a) by GPs and (b) through specialist clinics; what the timetable is for the proposed changes; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Current practice is to restrict to consultant psychiatrists and their clinical assistants the issue of licences to prescribe diamorphine (medical heroin) to drug addicts. In certain circumstances a GP may act as a consultant's assistant and therefore be licensed to prescribe under that consultant's supervision.
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has indicated that he would like to examine heroin prescribing for the small number of chaotic users who would benefit. The Department of Health has invited clinical experts to come together to review the current position of diamorphine prescribing, and it is intended to develop clinical guidance.

Afghanistan

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications were received for asylum from Afghan citizens (a) in the period from 11 September 2001 to the date when British peacekeeping forces were deployed in Afghanistan and (b) since the latter date.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 28 January 2002
	I regret that the information requested is unavailable. Information on asylum applications is published quarterly and provides data for latest available months and quarter. The latest published information relates to the third quarter of 2001.
	The latest published information shows that 745 applications for asylum were lodged by nationals of Afghanistan in September, compared with 930 in August and 825 in July. These figures are provisional.
	The next publication (relating to the final quarter of 2001) will be available from 28 February 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ rds/immigration1.html.

Afghanistan

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria he will use to decide whether Afghanistan is a safe country of origin for the purpose of asylum applications.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 28 January 2002
	All applications for asylum by Afghanistan nationals are individually considered under the terms of the 1951 United Nations convention relating to the status of refugees and take full account of the conditions in Afghanistan at the time the decision is made.

Blakenhurst Prison

Ann Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 13 December 2001, Official Report, column 490W, on Blakenhurst prison, when the report of the inspection of HMP Blakenhurst in January 2001 will be published.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 28 January 2002
	The report of the former Chief Inspector of Prisons' inspection of Blakenhurst was published on 19 September 2001. A copy of the report is available in the Library.

Neighbourhood Watch

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 18 December 2001, Official Report, column 237W, how much funding was provided by central Government to neighbourhood watch in each of the financial years from 1997–98 to 2001–02; and how much will be provided in the next financial year.

John Denham: Neighbourhood Watch is a movement of over 160,000 local schemes covering 6 million households. Local schemes are independent and largely self-financing. The police play a crucial supporting role, including providing advice on how to set up schemes and assisting with administration and publicity.
	The Government have supported the National Neighbourhood Watch Association by sponsoring the cost of their annual conference in 2001, which was £80,000. The organisation is largely self-financing with core funding being provided by the private sector. The Government recognise the role Neighbourhood Watch plays in the fight against crime and in building communities. We have given and will continue to give support in kind to the National Neighbourhood Watch Association. In 2000–01 we produced publicity and training material for Neighbourhood Watch at a cost of more than £100,000.

Juvenile Care

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he plans to take to ensure that babies and children taken abroad are accounted for when their parents, guardians or minders return to this country; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: In the year 2000, 90 million people of all nationalities arrived in the United Kingdom. In light of this fact, it would be impracticable to conduct a check of all babies and children taken abroad when their parents, guardians or minders return. A child may have been left in a foreign country for an extended and legitimate period, for example for the purposes of education.
	We do however take the well-being of children very seriously. That is why, following a careful review and consultation with interested parties, the United Kingdom Passport Agency moved to a policy of separate passports for British children from 5 October 1998. The reasons for this change of policy included the need to improve identification and prevent the unauthorised addition of children to an adult passport, and to reduce the potential for child abduction by giving better control of documents in cases of parental difference.
	Where problems arise, the British police enjoy a close relationship with their European Union partners and exchange intelligence regularly. A Ports Precautions Scheme operates through local police to prevent the unlawful and permanent removal of a child abroad and in cases of urgent need, the assistance of Europol and, where appropriate, Interpol, may be invoked.

Transforming Youth Work Development Fund

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the success of the Transforming Youth Work Development Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
	The Transforming Youth Work Development Fund will be available from April 2002 to March 2004. The majority of the fund will be allocated to local authorities. Regional Government offices will be asked to carry out an approval and monitoring role. In addition the Youth Service Unit will discuss reporting and management information with Government offices following the distribution and spending of funds. To aid this process local authorities will need to clearly indicate the outputs and outcomes that they will achieve. Government offices will ensure that local authority proposals include activities linked to social and community cohesion that are consistent with Public Order and Community Cohesion and Cantle recommendations. The Youth Service is a key partner in the delivery of the Connexions Service. Government offices will ensure that funds are used to build Youth Service capacity to engage effectively with Connexions. The success of the Transforming Youth Work Development Fund will be judged against whether these outcomes are achieved.

Agricultural Work

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase the number of student permits allowed for seasonal agricultural work; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: Representations in support of an increase in the present quota of non-European Economic Area students participating in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme have been made by a number of interested parties, including the National Farmers Union.
	The Government have listened to these representations and have agreed to increase the number of work cards available for use under this scheme. As agreed with the Industry, the student quota will increase from the present 15,200 to 20,200, spread over the next two years. Within that, a higher proportionate increase of 3,500 work cards will be made available to the scheme's operators this year, pro rata to the additional needs they have identified, for allocation to participants in the scheme.